Polarization-perceptual anisotropic two-dimensional ReS2 neuro-transistor with reconfigurable neuromorphic vision

Highly Promising 2D/1D BP-C/CNT Bionic Opto-Olfactory Co-Sensory Artificial Synapses for Multisensory Integration

The development of high-performance artificial synaptic neuromorphic devices poses a significant challenge in the creation of biomimetic sensing neural systems that seamlessly integrate both sensory and computational functionalities. In pursuit of this objective, promising bionic opto-olfactory co-sensory artificial synapse devices are constructed utilizing the BP-C/CNT (2D/1D) hybrid filter membrane as the resistive layer. Experimental results demonstrated that the devices seamlessly integrated the light modulation, gas detection, and biological synaptic functions into a single device while addressing the challenge with separating artificial synaptic devices from sensors. These devices offered the following advantages: 1) Simulating visual synapses, they can effectively replicate fundamental synaptic functions under both electrical and optical stimulation. 2) By emulating olfactory synapse responses to specific gases, they can achieve ultra-low detection limits and rapid identification of ethanol and acetone gases. 3) They enable photo-olfactory co-sensing simulations that mimic synaptic function under light-modulated pulse conditions in distinct gas environments, facilitating the study of synaptic learning rules and Pavlovian responses. This work provides a pioneering approach for exploring highly stable 2D BP-based optoelectronics and advancing the development of biomimetic neural systems.

The Nonvolatile Memory and Neuromorphic Simulation of ReS2 /h-BN/Graphene Floating Gate Devices Under Photoelectrical Hybrid Modulations

The floating gate devices, as a kind of nonvolatile memory, obtain great application potential in logic-in-memory chips. The 2D materials have been greatly studied due to atomically flat surfaces, higher carrier mobility, and excellent photoelectrical response. The 2D ReS2 flake is an excellent candidate for channel materials due to thickness-independent direct bandgap and outstanding optoelectronic response. In this paper, the floating gate devices are prepared with the ReS2 /h-BN/Gr heterojunction. It obtains superior nonvolatile electrical memory characteristics, including a higher memory window ratio (81.82%), tiny writing/erasing voltage (±8 V/2 ms), long retention (>1000 s), and stable endurance (>1000 times) as well as multiple memory states. Meanwhile, electrical writing and optical erasing are achieved by applying electrical and optical pulses, and multilevel storage can easily be achieved by regulating light pulse parameters. Finally, due to the ideal long-time potentiation/depression synaptic weights regulated by light pulses and electrical pulses, the convolutional neural network (CNN) constructed by ReS2 /h-BN/Gr floating gate devices can achieve image recognition with an accuracy of up to 98.15% for MNIST dataset and 91.24% for Fashion-MNIST dataset. The research work adds a powerful option for 2D materials floating gate devices to apply to logic-in-memory chips and neuromorphic computing.

Optoelectronic Synapses Based on MXene/Violet Phosphorus van der Waals Heterojunctions for Visual-Olfactory Crossmodal Perception

The crossmodal interaction of different senses, which is an important basis for learning and memory in the human brain, is highly desired to be mimicked at the device level for developing neuromorphic crossmodal perception, but related researches are scarce. Here, we demonstrate an optoelectronic synapse for vision-olfactory crossmodal perception based on MXene/violet phosphorus (VP) van der Waals heterojunctions. Benefiting from the efficient separation and transport of photogenerated carriers facilitated by conductive MXene, the photoelectric responsivity of VP is dramatically enhanced by 7 orders of magnitude, reaching up to 7.7 A W-1. Excited by ultraviolet light, multiple synaptic functions, including excitatory postsynaptic currents, paired-pulse facilitation, short/long-term plasticity and "learning-experience" behavior, were demonstrated with a low power consumption. Furthermore, the proposed optoelectronic synapse exhibits distinct synaptic behaviors in different gas environments, enabling it to simulate the interaction of visual and olfactory information for crossmodal perception. This work demonstrates the great potential of VP in optoelectronics and provides a promising platform for applications such as virtual reality and neurorobotics.

Interfacial Properties of Anisotropic Monolayer SiAs Transistors

The newly prepared monolayer (ML) SiAs is expected to be a candidate channel material for next-generation nano-electronic devices in virtue of its proper bandgap, high carrier mobility, and anisotropic properties. The interfacial properties in ML SiAs field-effect transistors are comprehensively studied with electrodes (graphene, V2CO2, Au, Ag, and Cu) by using ab initio electronic structure calculations and quantum transport simulation. It is found that ML SiAs forms a weak van der Waals interaction with graphene and V2CO2, while it forms a strong interaction with bulk metals (Au, Ag, and Cu). Although ML SiAs has strong anisotropy, it is not reflected in the contact property. Based on the quantum transport simulation, ML SiAs forms n-type lateral Schottky contact with Au, Ag, and Cu electrodes with the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of 0.28 (0.27), 0.40 (0.47), and 0.45 (0.33) eV along the a (b) direction, respectively, while it forms p-type lateral Schottky contact with a graphene electrode with a SBH of 0.34 (0.28) eV. Fortunately, ML SiAs forms an ideal Ohmic contact with the V2CO2 electrode. This study not only gives a deep understanding of the interfacial properties of ML SiAs with electrodes but also provides a guide for the design of ML SiAs devices.

Unlocking the Power of Multicatalytic Synergistic Transformation: toward Environmentally Adaptable Organohydrogel

A sustainable and efficient multicatalytic chemical transformation approach is devised for the development of all-biobased environmentally adaptable polymers and gels with multifunctional properties. The catalytic system, utilizing Lignin aluminum nanoparticles (AlNPs)-aluminum ions (Al3+ ), synergistically combines multiple catalytic cycles to create robust, mechanically stable, and versatile organohydrogels. Single catalytic cycles alone fail to achieve desired results, highlighting the importance of cooperatively combining different cycles for successful outcomes. The transformation involves free radical crosslinking, reversible quinone-catechol reactions, and an autocatalytic mechanism, resulting in a dual crosslinking strategy that incorporates both covalent and ionic crosslinking. This approach creates a dynamic gel system with combined energy dissipation and storage mechanisms. The engineered organohydrogels demonstrate vital multifunctionalities such as good thermal stability, self-healing, and adhesive properties, flame-retardancy, mechanical resilience and durability, conductivity, viscoelastic properties, environmental adaptability, and resistance to extreme conditions such as freezing and drying. The developed catalytic technology and resulting gels hold significant potential for applications in flexible electronics, energy storage, actuators, and sensors.

Reconfigurable Neuromorphic Computing: Materials, Devices, and Integration

Neuromorphic computing has been attracting ever-increasing attention due to superior energy efficiency, with great promise to promote the next wave of artificial general intelligence in the post-Moore era. Current approaches are, however, broadly designed for stationary and unitary assignments, thus encountering reluctant interconnections, power consumption, and data-intensive computing in that domain. Reconfigurable neuromorphic computing, an on-demand paradigm inspired by the inherent programmability of brain, can maximally reallocate finite resources to perform the proliferation of reproducibly brain-inspired functions, highlighting a disruptive framework for bridging the gap between different primitives. Although relevant research has flourished in diverse materials and devices with novel mechanisms and architectures, a precise overview remains blank and urgently desirable. Herein, the recent strides along this pursuit are systematically reviewed from material, device, and integration perspectives. At the material and device level, one comprehensively conclude the dominant mechanisms for reconfigurability, categorized into ion migration, carrier migration, phase transition, spintronics, and photonics. Integration-level developments for reconfigurable neuromorphic computing are also exhibited. Finally, a perspective on the future challenges for reconfigurable neuromorphic computing is discussed, definitely expanding its horizon for scientific communities.

Optoelectronic Synaptic Memtransistor Based on 2D SnSe/MoS2 van der Waals Heterostructure under UV-Ozone Treatment

Memristive switching devices with electrically and optically invoked synaptic behaviors show great promise in constructing an artificial biological visual system. Through rational design and integration, 2D materials and their van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures can be applied to realize multifunctional optoelectronic devices. Here, a multifunctional optoelectronic synaptic memtransistor based on a SnSe/MoS₂ vdW p-n heterojunction to simulate the human biological visual system is reported. By employing simple mild UV-ozone treatment, the device exhibits reversible resistive switching (RS) behavior with switching ratio up to 10³ . The retina-like selective response to different input light wavelengths is activated, as well as programmable multilevel resistance states and long-term synaptic plasticity. Moreover, memory and logic functions analogous to those found in the visual cortex of the brain are performed by controlling the optical and electrical input signals. This work proposes a feasible strategy to modulate RS in vdW heterostructures for memristive devices, which show significant potential for neuromorphic processing.

Vertical 0.6 V sub-10 nm oxide-homojunction transistor gated by a silk fibroin/sodium alginate crosslinking hydrogel for pain-sensitization enhancement emulation

The sensory nervous system of humans mainly depends on continuous training and memory to improve the pain-perceptional abilities for the complex noxious information in the real world and make appropriate responses. Unfortunately, the solid-state device for emulating this pain recognition with ultralow voltage operation still remains to be a great challenge. Herein, a vertical transistor with an ultrashort channel of ∼9.6 nm and ultralow voltage of ∼0.6 V based on protonic silk fibroin/sodium alginate crosslinking hydrogel electrolyte is successfully demonstrated. Such a hydrogel electrolyte with high ionic conductivity allows the transistor to work in an ultralow voltage, while the vertical transistor structure makes it have an ultrashort channel. Pain perception, memory, and sensitization can be integrated into this vertical transistor. Furthermore, using the photogating effect of light stimulus, the device displays multi-state pain-sensitization enhancement abilities through Pavlovian training. Most importantly, the cortical reorganization that reveals a close relationship among the pain stimulus, memory, and sensitization is finally realized. Therefore, this device can provide a great opportunity for multi-dimensional pain assessment, which is of great significance for the new generation of bio-inspired intelligent electronics, such as bionic robots, and smart medical equipment.

Emerging photoelectric devices for neuromorphic vision applications: principles, developments, and outlooks

The traditional von Neumann architecture is gradually failing to meet the urgent need for highly parallel computing, high-efficiency, and ultra-low power consumption for the current explosion of data. Brain-inspired neuromorphic computing can break the inherent limitations of traditional computers. Neuromorphic devices are the key hardware units of neuromorphic chips to implement the intelligent computing. In recent years, the development of optogenetics and photosensitive materials has provided new avenues for the research of neuromorphic devices. The emerging optoelectronic neuromorphic devices have received a lot of attentions because they have shown great potential in the field of visual bionics. In this paper, we summarize the latest visual bionic applications of optoelectronic synaptic memristors and transistors based on different photosensitive materials. The basic principle of bio-vision formation is first introduced. Then the device structures and operating mechanisms of optoelectronic memristors and transistors are discussed. Most importantly, the recent progresses of optoelectronic synaptic devices based on various photosensitive materials in the fields of visual perception are described. Finally, the problems and challenges of optoelectronic neuromorphic devices are summarized, and the future development of visual bionics is also proposed.

A photonic artificial synapse with a reversible multifaceted photochromic compound

Modern computational technology based on the von Neumann architecture physically partitions memory and the central processing unit, resulting in fundamental speed limitations and high energy consumption. On the other hand, the human brain is an extraordinary multifunctional organ composed of more than a billion neurons capable of simultaneously thinking, processing, and storing information. Neurons are interconnected with synapses that control information flow from pre-synaptic-to-post-synaptic neurons. Therefore, emulating synaptic functionalities and developing neuromorphic computational architecture has recently attracted much interest. Due to their high-speed, large bandwidth, and no interconnect-related power loss, photonic (all-optical) synapses can overcome the existing hurdles with electronic synapses. Here, we show an artificial photonic synapse by utilizing the well-established reversible, high-contrast photochromic organic compound, spiropyran, stimulated by optical pulses. Optical transmission of spiropyran significantly changes during spiropyran-merocyanine isomerization driven by UV-visible optical pulses. Such changes are equivalent to the biological synapses' inhibitory and excitatory synaptic actions. The slow relaxation to the initial state is considered as synaptic plasticity responsible for learning and memory formation. Short-term memory (STM), long-term memory (LTM), and transition from the STM to the LTM are demonstrated in all-optical synapses by modulating the stimuli's strength. The solvatochromic properties of spiropyran are further utilized to augment memory in synapses. Our work shows that photochromic organic compounds are excellent hosts for artificial photonic synapses and can be implemented in neuromorphic applications.

Recent progress in three-terminal artificial synapses based on 2D materials: from mechanisms to applications

Synapses are essential for the transmission of neural signals. Synaptic plasticity allows for changes in synaptic strength, enabling the brain to learn from experience. With the rapid development of neuromorphic electronics, tremendous efforts have been devoted to designing and fabricating electronic devices that can mimic synapse operating modes. This growing interest in the field will provide unprecedented opportunities for new hardware architectures for artificial intelligence. In this review, we focus on research of three-terminal artificial synapses based on two-dimensional (2D) materials regulated by electrical, optical and mechanical stimulation. In addition, we systematically summarize artificial synapse applications in various sensory systems, including bioplastic bionics, logical transformation, associative learning, image recognition, and multimodal pattern recognition. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives involving integration, power consumption and functionality are outlined.

ReS2 on GaN Photodetector Using H+ Ion-Cut Technology

The wafer-scale single-crystal GaN film was transferred from a commercial bulk GaN wafer onto a Si (100) substrate by combining ion-cut and surface-activated bonding. Well-defined, uniformly thick, and large-scale wafer size ReS₂ multilayers were grown on the GaN substrate. Finally, ReS₂ photodetectors were fabricated on GaN and sapphire substrates, respectively, and their performances were compared. Due to the polarization effect of GaN, the ReS₂/GaN photodetector showed better performance. The ReS₂/GaN photodetector has a responsivity of 40.12 A/W, while ReS₂/sapphire has a responsivity of 0.17 A/W. In addition, the ReS₂/GaN photodetector properties have reached an excellent reasonable level, including a photoconductive gain of 447.30, noise-equivalent power of 1.80 × 10^-14 W/Hz^1/2, and detectivity of 1.21 × 10¹⁰ Jones. This study expands the way to enhance the performance of ReS₂ photodetectors.

Wavelength and Polarization Sensitive Synaptic Phototransistor Based on Organic n-type Semiconductor/Supramolecular J-Aggregate Heterostructure

Human retina- and brain-inspired optoelectronic synapses, which integrate light detection and signal memory functions for data processing, have significant interest because of their potential applications for artificial vision technology. In nature, many animals such as mantis shrimp use polarized light information as well as scalar information including wavelength and intensity; however, a spectropolarimetric organic optoelectronic synapse has been seldom investigated. Herein, we report an organic synaptic phototransistor, consisting of a charge trapping liquid-crystalline perylene bisimide J-aggregate and a charge transporting crystalline dichlorinated naphthalene diimide, that can detect both wavelength and polarization information. The device shows persistent positive and negative photocurrents under low and high voltage conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the aligned organic heterostructure in the thin-film enables linearly polarized light to be absorbed with a dichroic ratio of 1.4 and 3.7 under transverse polarized blue and red light illumination, respectively. These features allow polarized light sensitive postsynaptic functions in the device. Consequently, a simple polarization imaging sensor array is successfully demonstrated using photonic synapses, which suggests that a supramolecular material is an important candidate for the development of spectropolarimetric neuromorphic vision systems.

Programmable ferroelectric bionic vision hardware with selective attention for high-precision image classification

Selective attention is an efficient processing strategy to allocate computational resources for pivotal optical information. However, the hardware implementation of selective visual attention in conventional intelligent system is usually bulky and complex along with high computational cost. Here, programmable ferroelectric bionic vision hardware to emulate the selective attention is proposed. The tunneling effect of photogenerated carriers are controlled by dynamic variation of energy barrier, enabling the modulation of memory strength from 9.1% to 47.1% without peripheral storage unit. The molecular polarization of ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) layer enables a single device not only multiple nonvolatile states but also the implementation of selective attention. With these ferroelectric devices are arrayed together, UV light information can be selectively recorded and suppressed the with high current decibel level. Furthermore, the device with positive polarization exhibits high wavelength dependence in the image attention processing, and the fabricated ferroelectric sensory network exhibits high accuracy of 95.7% in the pattern classification for multi-wavelength images. This study can enrich the neuromorphic functions of bioinspired sensing devices and pave the way for profound implications of future bioinspired optoelectronics.