Implementation of pulse timing discriminator functionality into a GeSbTe/GeCuTe double layer structure.

The functionality of a pulse timing discriminator, which is commonly required in optical communication systems and artificial neuromorphic engineering, was implemented into chalcogenide phase-change materials. GeSbTe (GST) and GeCuTe (GCT), which exhibit opposite refractive index behavior in their respective crystalline and amorphous phases, were employed. A GST/GCT double layer enabled the order of arrival of two counter-propagating femtosecond pulses to be encoded as a difference in the degree of amorphization of the GCT layer, i.