Yan Jin

We introduce and explore a Kerr soliton Ising machine with all-to-all connectivity and up to tripartite (cubic) interactions, unlocking efficient approaches for combinatorial optimization. The machine is an ensemble of solitons in a Kerr resonator, where a programmable optoelectronic feedback circuit generates amplitude mixing terms involving up to three arbitrary soliton spins in the system Hamiltonian. This capability offers a key advantage for solving canonical NP-complete problems like Boolean satisfiability (SAT) with three literal clauses, substantially reducing the spin overhead compared to quadratic-only Ising mappings. To explore our cubic Ising machine, we solve randomly generated 3-SAT instances of 250 variables and 1000 clauses, approaching the intrinsic satisfiability threshold. Our results highlight Kerr solitons as a flexible and energy-efficient analog computing substrate, with the potential to address challenges in combinatorial optimization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

The challenge of scaling digital computing motivates innovation, especially through the evolution of physical systems that mimic neural networks and combinatorial optimization problems. Light is a hyperefficient information carrier, and if efficient interactions with it could be uncovered, then direct information processing would become far more feasible. We harness an ensemble of hundreds of Kerr microresonator solitons and implement an analog feedback network to create an Ising machine with fully programmable all-to-all interactions. By increasing the feedback for self, on-diagonal interactions, each soliton exhibits a universal spin-like bifurcation, and using this palette of interactions, we solve the canonical Boolean satisfiability problem (SAT). The combination of uniform soliton interactions and the compatibility of our Ising machine with high-speed data interconnects enables rapid and precise solutions of complex SAT problems. The well-established theoretical properties of Kerr solitons bound the trade-off of optical power and time use by the machine at ~0.15 milliwatts per soliton and 1 microsecond for a single feedback step. We performed >10,000 trials on more than 100 randomly generated SAT instances to evaluate the Ising machine, demonstrating the potential to exceed the performance of benchmark digital SAT solvers. Our work highlights the convergence of optical nonlinearity, ultralow loss photonics, and optoelectronic circuits for computation-acceleration tasks.

Microcomb-based sources formed by placing an integrated demultiplexer with an ultra-low power consumption after an efficient optical frequency comb play a key role in many large-scale optical links for data centers and AI systems. Here, we demonstrate a multi-wavelength multi-port source based on a Kerr microcomb followed by a monolithically-integrated demultiplexer, which autonomously locks to and tracks the comb lines. Mach-Zehnder interferometer- and ring resonator-based wavelength demultiplexers, implemented using capacitive optical phase shifters with a zero static power consumption, and a soliton microcomb, with a 200 GHz mode-spacing and 53% efficiency, are implemented. Using a single control unit for the sequential control of all phase shifters, a total demultiplexer power consumption of 2.4 mW is achieved, which corresponds to a record demultiplexer energy consumption of 10fJ/b and 2.5fJ/b for an 8-channel and 32-channel systems at a data-rate of 32 Gb/s/channel, respectively, significantly improving the demultiplexer energy efficiency compared to the thermally-tuned state-of-the-art systems.

Control of nonlinear interactions in microresonators enhances access to classical and quantum field states across nearly limitless bandwidth. A recent innovation has been to leverage coherent scattering of the intraresonator pump field as a control of group-velocity dispersion and nonlinear frequency shifts, which are precursors for the dynamical evolution of new field states. Yet, since nonlinear-resonator phenomena are intrinsically multimode and exhibit complex modelocking, here we demonstrate a new approach to controlling nonlinear interactions with bandgap modes completely separate from the pump laser. We explore this bandgap-detuned excitation regime through generation of benchmark optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) and soliton microcombs. Indeed, we show that mode-locked states are phase matched more effectively in the bandgap-detuned regime in which we directly control the modal Kerr shift with the bandgaps without perturbing the pump field. In particular, bandgap-detuned excitation enables an arbitrary, mode-by-mode control of the backscattering rate as a versatile tool for mode-locked state engineering. Our experiments leverage nanophotonic resonators for phase matching of OPOs and solitons, leading to control over threshold power, conversion efficiency, and emission direction that enable application advances in high-capacity signaling and computing, signal generation, and quantum sensing.

We demonstrate a new Ising machine based on more than 64 fully connected Kerr solitons. Our Ising machine solves computationally challenging problems like 3-SAT by encoding the interactions between the solitons.

Control of nonlinear interactions in microresonators enhances access to classical and quantum field states across nearly limitless bandwidth. A recent innovation has been to leverage coherent scattering of the intraresonator pump as a control of group-velocity dispersion and nonlinear frequency shifts, which are precursors for the dynamical evolution of new field states. A uniform periodicity nanostructure addresses backscattering with one resonator mode, and pumping that mode enables universal phase-matching for four-wave mixing with control by the bandgap. Yet, since nonlinear-resonator phenomena are intrinsically multimode and exhibit complex modelocking, here we demonstrate a new approach to controlling nonlinear interactions by creating bandgap modes completely separate from the pump laser. We explore this bandgap-detuned excitation regime through generation of benchmark optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) and soliton microcombs. Indeed, we show that mode-locked states are phase matched more effectively in the bandgap-detuned regime in which we directly control the modal Kerr shift with the bandgaps without perturbing the pump field. In particular, bandgap-detuned excitation enables an arbitrary control of backscattering as a versatile tool for mode-locked state engineering. Our experiments leverage nanophotonic resonators for phase matching of OPOs and solitons, leading to control over threshold power, conversion efficiency, and emission direction that enable application advances in high-capacity signaling and computing, signal generation, and quantum sensing.

We report controllable generation of OPO lasers and soliton microcombs by manipulating nonlinear dynamics with nanophotonic bandgaps. By excitation detuned from bandgap modes, we realize wide-tunability, low-threshold-power and high-conversion-efficiency lasers.

We explore dark-soliton formation by bandgap-detuned excitation of photonic-crystal resonators. By designing resonator-mode bandgaps to compensate Kerr shifts of a dark soliton state, we achieve control over propagation direction and enhance the conversion efficiency.