Reaching the optical propagation limit in temporal analog computing

Abstract

A central goal of optical computing is to perform calculations on the timescale of light propagation. Yet many analog photonic solvers require feedback, storage or field build-up before the answer becomes available, introducing additional latency that limits real-time operation. Here we introduce the concept of two-time modulation for temporal analog computing, in which the material response is independently modulated along two temporal directions. This enables identical copies of a waveform separated only in time to be transformed by the same medium into entirely different target outputs, all within a single spatial channel. We then use two-time modulation to solve a nonlocal integral equation in a single passage, with full-wave simulations showing the encoded input evolving directly into the solution over the programmed interaction length. The computation therefore adds no intrinsic solution-formation delay beyond optical transit. These results bring compact, programmable, real-time analog computation within reach for ultrafast optical information processing.