Memristors in electronics have shown the potential for a range of applications, ranging from circuit elements to neuromorphic computing. In recent years, the ability to vary the conductance of a channel in electronics has enabled in-memory computing, thus leading to substantial interest in memristors. Optical analogues will require modulation of the transmission of light in a semicontinuous and nonvolatile manner. With the proliferation of photonic computing, such an optical analogue, which involves modulating the optical response in integrated circuits while maintaining the modulated state afterwards, is being pursued using a range of functional materials. Here we review recent progress in this important and emerging aspect of photonic integrated circuits and provide an overview of the current state of the art. Optical memristors are of particular interest for applications in high-bandwidth neuromorphic computing, machine learning hardware and artificial intelligence, as these optical analogues of memristors allow for technology that combines the ultrafast, high-bandwidth communication of optics with local information processing.

电子产品中的忆阻器已显示出一系列应用的潜力，从电路元件到神经形态计算。近年来，改变电子通道电导的能力使内存计算成为可能，从而引起人们对忆阻器的浓厚兴趣。光学类似物需要以半连续和非易失性方式调制光传输。随着光子计算的普及，这种光学模拟涉及调制集成电路中的光学响应，同时在之后保持调制状态，正在使用一系列功能材料进行研究。在这里，我们回顾了光子集成电路这一重要和新兴方面的最新进展，并概述了当前的技术水平。