Research Projects

The modern technique used in neurobiology to control the activity of the neurons using light is optogenetics, where an optoelectronic synaptic device can be employed to integrate visual sensing, data storage, and signal processing [Seo et al., An Optogenetics-Inspired Flexible van der Waals Optoelectronic Synapse and its Application to a Convolutional Neural Network, Adv. Mater. 2021, 33, 2102980]. Simultaneous processing of these electrical and optical signals employing state-of-the-art architectures is an innovative approach to developing energy-efficient electro-optical neuromorphic hardware. A neuromorphic chip premised on analog memristive devices can store and process information, like the brain, with massive parallelism and energy efficiency. The in-memory computation capability enables us to avoid both the latency and energy bottlenecks that usually occur in traditional von Neumann computing systems. However, memristive synaptic devices suffer from several drawbacks: limited bandwidth communication in storing and processing signals, poor data operation speed, low co-integration density, and high-power consumption. Therefore, a synaptic device with better energy efficiency, greater tunability, fast-communication speed, and high density is a prerequisite for developing energy-efficient brain-like computing networks. In this work, a novel active layer-based memtransistors comprising a ferroelectric polymer blend/ photoelectric 2D material hybrid system is proposed to utilize the footprints of electrical and optical domains. The key functionalities of synapses and neurons will be emulated using the analog conduction response of the device, stimulated via a combination of electronic and photonic pulses. The proposed active layer consists of a ferroelectric polymer blend as a tunable gate dielectric and hybrid rGO-TMDCs/ plasmonic NPs as photoactive channel materials. The ferroelectric polarization-induced gating of the rGO-TMDCs/ plasmonic NPs hybrid system will extend the photoresponsivity from the visible to the near-infrared. The metallic counterparts will favorably assist the carrier transport process through the layered sheets. Eventually, the synergy between the electrical (compact footprint, high density) and optical (high bandwidth and low communication energy) domains will be harnessed to emulate the optoelectronic synapses with better energy efficiency and greater tunability.

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