Cellular automata in photonic cavity arrays

Opt Express. 2016 Oct 31;24(22):24930-24937. doi: 10.1364/OE.24.024930.

Abstract

We propose theoretically a photonic Turing machine based on cellular automata in arrays of nonlinear cavities coupled with artificial gauge fields. The state of the system is recorded making use of the bistability of driven cavities, in which losses are fully compensated by an external continuous drive. The sequential update of the automaton layers is achieved automatically, by the local switching of bistable states, without requiring any additional synchronization or temporal control.