Nano-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Integrated Oscillator Arrays for Energy-Efficient Physical Reservoir Computing (NOEMIA)

信息和通信技术(ICT)消耗了全球能源生产的很大比例，随着人工智能(AI)的快速广泛采用，对高功耗的复杂机器学习模型的需求正在增加，这将进一步加速这一消耗。诺米亚项目旨在通过使用纳米光电机械系统(NOEMS)技术，为机器学习开发一种全新的节能硬件替代方案。在项目时间表内，诺米亚的目标是交付世界上第一个集成了通过硅兼容技术制造的GeSn光探测器的纳光机电(NOEM)耦合振荡器阵列。硅光子器件与纳米机械振荡器的主动集成将使我们能够以极高的灵敏度和最小的能量损失检测亚NW振荡。将从理论上探索系统的动态行为和可扩展性，并将研究设备和材料级别的系统可调整性，以应用于物理油藏计算，这是一种快速、简单和节能的机器学习选择。NORIA项目(总计116万欧元)在欧盟CHIST-ERA计划中获得批准，该项目财团由来自5个不同国家的5个机构组成，具有互补的专业知识。项目负责人英国南安普顿大学(UOS)提供纳米器件制造和先进的纳米光子学方面的强大专业知识，法国的IEMN研究所提供MEMS技术和光机电表征技能。台湾国立台湾大学(NTU)以其硅光子学和GeSn光探测器专业知识做出贡献，而激光退火和材料改性则由拉脱维亚的RIGA技术大学(RTU)进行。捷克科学院(CAS)热力研究所领导了非线性振子的理论研究。独一无二的跨学科NOEM集成振荡器阵列的成功展示将对下一代人工智能硬件的发展产生重大影响，下一代人工智能硬件是ICT领域最令人兴奋的研究领域之一。

A significant percentage of the global energy production is consumed by Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and the consumption will be further accelerated with rapid and broad adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where demand on complex machine learning models with high power consumption is increasing. The NOEMIA project aims to develop a fundamentally novel energy-efficient hardware alternative for machine learning by using Nano-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (NOEMS) technology. Within the project timeline, NOEMIA targets to deliver a world-first Nano-Opto-Electro-Mechanical (NOEM) coupled oscillator array integrated with GeSn photodetectors fabricated via silicon-compatible technologies. Active integration of silicon photonics components with nanomechanical oscillators will allow us to detect sub-nW oscillation with excellent sensitivity and with minimal energy loss. The dynamic behaviour and scalability of the systems will be explored theoretically and device and material-level system tunability will be investigated towards the application for physical reservoir computing, a fast, simple, and energy-efficient option of machine learning.The NOEMIA project (1.16M EUR in total) is approved in the EU CHIST-ERA scheme, and the project consortium consists of 5 institutions from 5 different countries with complementary expertise. The project lead, University of Southampton (UOS) in the UK offers strong expertise of nanodevice fabrication and advanced nanophotonics, and Institut d'électronique de microélectronique et de nanotechnologie (IEMN) in France provides skills of MEMS technology and opto-electro-mechanical characterisation. National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taiwan contributes with their Si photonics and GeSn photodetector expertise, and laser annealing and material modification are conducted by Riga Technical University (RTU) in Latvia. The Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Czech Republic leads theoretical investigation of nonlinear oscillators. Successful demonstration of novel NOEM integrated oscillator arrays by the unique and interdisciplinary NOEMIA consortium will make a significant impact on the development of next generation AI hardware, one of the most exciting research fields in ICT.