Editorial Introduction to JSTQE Special Issue on Optical Computing

The twenty-eight papers included in this special section focuses on optical computing. There is a renaissance in the research of photonic computing driven by the demands of artificial intelligence and neuromorphic computing on current digital electronic hardware (which has a central processor and separated memory for sequential processing). Optical physics could enable non-von Neumann computing and potentially enable new applications that require low latency, high bandwidth, and low energies. This special issue will cover the current status, prospects, and challenges of the field in using light for neuromorphic computing, machine learning, and quantum information processing. The purpose of this special section is to provide a glimpse of the current status and future trends, as well as provide original results and recent developments in the field of optical computing, from devices, integration technology, system architectures, and algorithms, to applications.