Experimental implementation of spike-based neuromorphic XOR operation based on polarization-mode competition in a single VCSOA

We experimentally and numerically propose an approach for implementing spike-based neuromorphic exclusive OR (XOR) operation using a single vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifier (VCSOA). XOR operation is realized based on the neuron-like inhibitory dynamics of the VCSOA subject to dual-polarized pulsed optical injections. The inhibitory dynamics based on the polarization-mode competition effect are analyzed, and the inhibitory response can be obtained in a suitable range of wavelength detuning. Here, all input and output bits are represented by spikes that are compatible with the photonic spiking neural network. The experimental and numerical results show that XOR operation can be realized in two polarization modes by adjusting the time offset in the inhibitory window and setting defined reference thresholds. In addition, the influences of delay time and input intensity ratio on XOR operation are studied experimentally. This scheme is energy efficient because VCSOA neuromorphic photonics computing and information processing.