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Diffractive coupling for photonic networks: how big can we go?

Photonic networks are considered a promising substrate for high-performance future computing systems. Compared to electronics, photonics has significant advantages for a fully parallel implementation of networks. A promising approach for parallel large-scale photonic networks is realizing the connections using diffraction. Here, we characterize the scalability of such diffractive coupling in great detail. Based on experiments, analytically obtained bounds and numerical simulations considering real-world optical imaging setups, we find that the concept in principle enables networks hosting over a million optical emitters. This would be a breakthrough in multiple areas, illustrating a clear path toward future, large scale photonic networks.