Researchers have long been fascinated by the question of whether human-designed systems can be made to imitate the coordinated, synchronized behavior we see in nature.

Synchronization appears in many biological systems, most notably in neural circuits where groups of neurons fire in coordinated timing. Neural circuits are examples of oscillators, or systems that repeat a cycle. When several oscillators influence one another, they can settle into shared timing. In neuroscience, that kind of coordinated timing is believed to relate to functions such as learning and memory, since different synchronization patterns can represent different functional states. One synchronization pattern might correspond to a network being ready to store a memory, for example, whereas another might correspond to remembering something. Another still might correspond to idling or waiting for input. Synchronization is useful in nature, because it lets many parts act together reliably without needing much energy or complex control.

Is there something we can learn from this? Is it possible to come up with a technology built on similar principles that could bring us new ways to store, process or interpret information?

Optical Control of Synchronization

The NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group believes we can. It's currently working on designing real-time optical control of synchronization between microscopic mechanical oscillators, offering a potential pathway toward information technology modeled on biological networks.

Earlier this year, the Science and Core Technology team created a specially engineered fiber structure that contains two mechanical oscillators only a fraction of a millimeter across. Light circulates inside the structure and interacts with the tiny vibrations of the oscillators, allowing the researchers to measure and influence them with great precision.

Oscillators Joined in Rhythm

By adjusting the intensity of the light at a particular beat frequency, they created a controlled link between the two oscillators. The link caused them to settle into the same rhythm and achieve synchronization. The team were then able to demonstrate that the synchronization state could be changed almost instantly by altering the timing pattern of the light. In other words, they succeeded in switching from one coordinated rhythm to another at will.

This achievement may sound a little esoteric, but it has an important purpose.

Computing Through Timing

Consider digital computers, which represent information as ones and zeros. A system of synchronized oscillators could represent information as coordinated rhythms. Each rhythm, or phase relationship, is a stable state the system can hold. NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group researchers were able to show not only that these states exist, but that transitions between them can be triggered on demand. That idea, in a more mature form, could one day help give rise to devices that store or process information using patterns of vibration, rather than digital logic. Such devices would behave less like traditional computers and more like networks of neurons, which rely on timing to convey meaning.

In practical terms, oscillators can operate with very small amounts of energy, since they don't rely on large sets of calculations but instead settle into collective rhythms shaped by their interactions. A system based on this principle could support tasks where timing and coordinated behavior carry information. We know that analog physical processes can be effective for problems involving pattern-like dynamics; NTT's work gives a glimpse of how such processes might be used in information technology, supported by precise optical control.

Learning From Nature

NTT's fiber structure can host many more oscillators, not just two, and the team has already designed a prototype with fifty oscillators. Larger networks would allow researchers to study more complex collective behavior, closer to the abundance and richness we see in biological systems. What's more, new ways of varying the optical signals could create more flexible interactions among oscillators. This may one day lead to platforms that imitate elements of learning and memory at a physical level, without large external circuitry or heavy computation, with devices using low levels of energy and adapting to changing conditions through their natural dynamics.

Not replacing digital computing, but complementing it with systems that draw on principles found in neural and biological networks. NTT has shown that these ideas can be constructed and controlled experimentally. The next step? Totally new forms of information technology. The future is bright.

Innovating a Sustainable Future for People and Planet

For further information, please see this link:
https://group.ntt/en/newsrelease/2025/09/19/250919a.html

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Daniel O'Connor

Daniel O'Connor joined the NTT Group in 1999 when he began work as the Public Relations Manager of NTT Europe. While in London, he liaised with the local press, created the company's intranet site, wrote technical copy for industry magazines and managed exhibition stands from initial design to finished displays.

Later seconded to the headquarters of NTT Communications in Tokyo, he contributed to the company's first-ever winning of global telecoms awards and the digitalisation of internal company information exchange.

Since 2015 Daniel has created content for the Group's Global Leadership Institute, the One NTT Network and is currently working with NTT R&D teams to grow public understanding of the cutting-edge research undertaken by the NTT Group.