Options
Efficient on-chip training of optical neural networks using genetic algorithm
Citation
Zhang, H., Thompson, J., Gu, M., Jiang, X. D., Cai, H., Liu, P. Y., Shi, Y., Zhang, Y., Muhammad Faeyz Karim, Lo, G. Q., Luo, X., Dong, B., Kwek, L.C. & Liu, A. Q. (2021). Efficient on-chip training of optical neural networks using genetic algorithm. ACS Photonics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.1c00035
Author
Zhang, Hui
•
Thompson, Jayne
•
Gu, Mile
•
Jiang, Xu Dong
•
Cai, Hong
•
Liu, Patricia Yang
•
Shi, Yuzhi
•
Zhang, Yi
•
Muhammad Faeyz Karim
•
Lo, Guo Qiang
•
Luo, Xianshu
•
Dong, Bin
•
•
Liu, Ai Qun
Abstract
Recent advances in silicon photonic chips have made huge progress in optical computing owing to their flexibility in the reconfiguration of various tasks. Its deployment of neural networks serves as an alternative for mitigating the rapidly increased demand for computing resources in electronic platforms. However, it remains a formidable challenge to train the online programmable optical neural networks efficiently, being restricted by the difficulty in obtaining gradient information on a physical device when executing a gradient descent algorithm. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an efficient, physics-agnostic, and closed-loop protocol for training optical neural networks on chip. A gradient-free algorithm, that is, the genetic algorithm, is adopted. The protocol is on-chip implementable, physical agnostic (no need to rely on characterization and offline modeling), and gradient-free. The protocol works for various types of chip structures and is especially helpful to those that cannot be analytically decomposed and characterized. We confirm its viability using several practical tasks, including the crossbar switch and the Iris classification. Finally, by comparing our physics-agonistic and gradient-free method to the off-chip and gradient-based training methods, we demonstrate the robustness of our system to perturbations such as imperfect phase implementation and photodetection noise. Optical processors with gradient-free genetic algorithms have broad application potentials in pattern recognition, reinforcement learning, quantum computing, and realistic applications (such as facial recognition, natural language processing, and autonomous vehicles).
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Journal
ACS Photonics
DOI
10.1021/acsphotonics.1c00035
Description
This is the final draft, after peer-review, of a manuscript published in ACS Photonics. The published version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.1c00035