Integrated van der Waals waveguides

Nature Communications: Integrated van der Waals waveguides enable broadband all-optical nonlinear photonic circuits

1 min read · Tue, Jun 23 2026

News Research in Focus

Integrated van der Waals waveguides all-optical nonlinear photonic circuits

All-optical neural networks promise high-speed and energy-efficient computing, but implementing nonlinear activation directly in the optical domain remains a major challenge. Many existing approaches rely on electronic conversion, slow tuning mechanisms, or wavelength-sensitive resonant structures, which limits the scalability of integrated photonic computing systems. In our new Nature Communications paper, “Integrated van der Waals waveguides for all-optical nonlinear photonic circuits,” we demonstrate an integrated MoS₂ waveguide platform for broadband all-optical nonlinear activation. The