Photochromic Organic Materials for Neuromorphic Computing – PHOTOMIC

The goal of PHOTOMIC is to develop and integrate organic materials for all-photonic neuromorphic computing. Our approach is to develop photochromic materials as the active elements of all-optical synapses to be interfaced with semiconductor photonic neurons towards innovative machine learning schemes. More specifically, we will develop a hybrid semiconductor/molecular model elemental system to implement a machine learning algorithm. It will combine ultrafast micropillar semiconductor lasers as spiking neurons and optimized organic photochromic materials. Two types of photochromic effects will be considered: direct photoinduced refractive index modulation, and photoinduced surface relief formation. This highly interdisciplinary project thus combines semiconductor photonics, photophysics, molecular photonics and organic chemistry.