The miniaturization of transistors has enabled devices such as smartphones to surpass the computing power of NASA's Apollo-era systems. However, this trajectory is reaching its limits as traditional scaling approaches reach physical and practical limits. Researchers are now exploring alternatives, including AI-specific hardware, in-memory, analog, and quantum computing, as well as photonic components, to advance information processing. Optical computing, by exploiting the ultrafast oscillation frequency of light, promises faster operations and extremely low switching energy.

A key challenge is to realize all-optical transistors in which light is switched by light. Light-matter interactions mediated by materials in optical cavities are essential to overcome the lack of direct photon-photon interaction. Exciton-polaritons, quasiparticles that combine optical and electronic properties, have enabled breakthroughs in ultrafast and efficient all-optical logic. This talk will explore the role of light-matter interactions, scalable polariton systems, and the development of integrated optical memories with THz speed readout.

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Bio

Darius Urbonas joined IBM Research - Zurich in 2015 in the Science and Technology Department. His research goal is an efficient and ultrafast all-optical logic and analog simulator using light-matter interactions in optical microcavities.

He received his Ph.D. from ETH Zurich (D-ITET) and a Master's degree summa cum laude in Laser Physics and Technology and a Bachelor's degree cum laude in Physics from Vilnius University in Lithuania. He has worked in various positions at the University of Vilnius, the Center for Physical Sciences Technology, and as a visiting scientist at the Center for Microphotonics at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.