All-Optical Synapses Based on a Mechanoluminescent Material.

Journal: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Published Date: Jun 25, 2025

Abstract

Neuromorphic computing systems hold promises to overcome the inefficiencies of conventional von Neumann architecture, which are constrained by data transfer bottlenecks. However, conventional electrically modulated synapses face inherent limitations such as limited switching speed, elevated power consumption, and substantial interconnection loss. Optical signaling offers a transformative alternative, leveraging ultrafast transmission, high bandwidth, and minimal crosstalk. Here, an all-optical synapse based on a mechanoluminescent material of LiNaNbO:Pr (LNN:Pr) is presented, which emulates biological synapses, including homologous and heterologous synaptic behaviors, through optical signal processing. The engineered trap depth distribution of LNN:Pr enables multi-stimuli response to UV light, mechanical force, and thermal input, replicating diverse synaptic functionalities such as short-term potentiation (STP), long-term potentiation (LTP), paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), and learning-experience behavioral adaptation. Furthermore, its utility is showcased in hardware-level denoising and multimode-fused perception, achieving spatiotemporal feature extraction in dynamic environments. This work not only sheds light into designing fully optical synapses but also bridges mechanoluminescence (ML) with neuromorphic engineering, advancing energy-efficient, light-driven artificial intelligence technologies.

Authors

  • Danni Peng
    Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
  • Haotian Li
    Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
  • Junlu Sun
    Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
  • Yuan Deng
    School of Computational Science and Electronics, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan, 411104, China.
  • Fuhang Jiao
    Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
  • Yuhong Han
    Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
  • Kaiying Zhang
    Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
  • Jiajia Meng
    Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
  • Xiang Li
    Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
  • Lijun Wang
    Department of Stomatology, The Third Medical Center Chinese PLA General Hospital Beijing China.
  • Li-Min Fu
    Key Laboratory of Advanced Light Conversion Materials and Biophotonics, School of Chemistry and Life Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China.
  • Qilin Hua
    CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China. huaqilin@binn.cas.cn.
  • Chong-Xin Shan
    Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
  • Lin Dong
    Environmental Exposures Vascular Disease Institute, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.

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