Field-Driven Athermal Activation of Amorphous Metal Oxide Semiconductors for Flexible Programmable Logic Circuits and Neuromorphic Electronics.

Despite extensive research, large-scale realization of metal-oxide electronics is still impeded by high-temperature fabrication, incompatible with flexible substrates. Ideally, an athermal treatment modifying the electronic structure of amorphous metal oxide semiconductors (AMOS) to generate sufficient carrier concentration would help mitigate such high-temperature requirements, enabling realization of high-performance electronics on flexible substrates. Here, a novel field-driven athermal activation of AMOS channels is demonstrated via an electrolyte-gating approach.

Ultralow Power Dual-Gated Subthreshold Oxide Neuristors: An Enabler for Higher Order Neuronal Temporal Correlations.

Inspired by neural computing, the pursuit of ultralow power neuromorphic architectures with highly distributed memory and parallel processing capability has recently gained more traction. However, emulation of biological signal processing via artificial neuromorphic architectures does not exploit the immense interplay between local activities and global neuromodulations observed in biological neural networks and hence are unable to mimic complex biologically plausible adaptive functions like heterosynaptic plasticity and homeostasis. Here, we demonstrate emulation of complex neuronal behaviors like heterosynaptic plasticity, homeostasis, association, correlation, and coincidence in a single neuristor via a dual-gated architecture.

Indium Tungsten Oxide Thin Films for Flexible High-Performance Transistors and Neuromorphic Electronics.

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) with high electrical performances (mobility > 10 cm/V s, V < 1 V, SS < 1 V/decade, on/off ratio ≈ 10) obtained from the silicon- and oxide-based single-crystalline semiconductor materials require high processing temperature and hence are not suitable for flexible electronics. Amorphous oxide-based transparent electronic devices are attractive to meet emerging technological demands where crystalline oxide-/silicon-based architectures cannot provide a solution. Here, we tackle this problem by using a novel amorphous oxide semiconducting material-namely, indium tungsten oxide (IWO)-as the active channel in flexible TFTs (FTFTs).

Synergistic Gating of Electro-Iono-Photoactive 2D Chalcogenide Neuristors: Coexistence of Hebbian and Homeostatic Synaptic Metaplasticity.

Emulation of brain-like signal processing with thin-film devices can lay the foundation for building artificially intelligent learning circuitry in future. Encompassing higher functionalities into single artificial neural elements will allow the development of robust neuromorphic circuitry emulating biological adaptation mechanisms with drastically lesser neural elements, mitigating strict process challenges and high circuit density requirements necessary to match the computational complexity of the human brain. Here, 2D transition metal di-chalcogenide (MoS ) neuristors are designed to mimic intracellular ion endocytosis-exocytosis dynamics/neurotransmitter-release in chemical synapses using three approaches: (i) electronic-mode: a defect modulation approach where the traps at the semiconductor-dielectric interface are perturbed; (ii) ionotronic-mode: where electronic responses are modulated via ionic gating; and (iii) photoactive-mode: harnessing persistent photoconductivity or trap-assisted slow recombination mechanisms.

Highly Transparent and Integrable Surface Texture Change Device for Localized Tactile Feedback.

Human-machine haptic interaction is typically detected by variations in friction, roughness, hardness, and temperature, which combines to create sensation of surface texture change. Most of the current technologies work to simulate changes in tactile perception (via electrostatic, lateral force fields, vibration motors, etc.) without creating actual topographical transformations.

Flexible Ionic-Electronic Hybrid Oxide Synaptic TFTs with Programmable Dynamic Plasticity for Brain-Inspired Neuromorphic Computing.

Emulation of biological synapses is necessary for future brain-inspired neuromorphic computational systems that could look beyond the standard von Neuman architecture. Here, artificial synapses based on ionic-electronic hybrid oxide-based transistors on rigid and flexible substrates are demonstrated. The flexible transistors reported here depict a high field-effect mobility of ≈9 cm V s with good mechanical performance.

Transparent Flexible Multifunctional Nanostructured Architectures for Non-optical Readout, Proximity, and Pressure Sensing.

Electronic skins need to be versatile and able to detect multiple inputs beyond simple pressure and touch while having attributes of transparency and facile manufacturability. Herein, we demonstrate a versatile nanostructured transparent sensor capable of detecting wide range of pressures and proximity as well as novel nonoptical detection of printed patterns. The architecture and fabrication processes are straightforward and show robustness to repeated cycling and testing.

Modulating Cationic Ratios for High-Performance Transparent Solution-Processed Electronics.

Amorphous oxide semiconductors such as indium zinc tin oxide (IZTO) are considered favorites to serve as channel materials for thin film transistors (TFTs) because they combine high charge carrier mobility with high optical transmittance, allowing for the development of transparent electronics. Although the influence of relative cationic concentrations in determining the electronic properties have been studied in sputtered and PLD films, the development of printed transparent electronics hinges on such dependencies being explored for solution-processed systems. Here, we study solution-processed indium zinc tin oxide thin film transistors (TFTs) to investigate variation in their electrical properties with change in cationic composition.