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Organic optoelectronic synapse based on photon-modulated electrochemical doping

Nature Photonics volume 17, pages 629–637 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Optoelectronic synapses can perceive and memorize visual information, making them appealing for future bionic eyes or vision automation. Organic field-effect transistors are a promising platform for optoelectronic synaptic devices thanks to their flexibility and biocompatibility. However, charge screening effects occurring at channel–dielectric interfaces hinder the implementation of programmable multilevel memories. Here, we report photonic organic synapses based on photon-modulated electrochemical doping in electrochemical transistors, where light can manipulate ion insertion into the photoactive layer composed of donor–acceptor heterojunction interfaces. This enables high-density multilevel conductance modulation at low operating voltages (<1 V) and the imitation of ion flux-driven synaptic activity of living systems. The devices can recognize different optical signals and mimic the learning processes of the human brain. By exploiting the integrated functions of perception, processing and memorization of visual information, a single-layer synapse array acts as an artificial retina enabling facial recognition without the use of a complex artificial neural network.

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Fig. 1: Bioinspired visual system.
Fig. 2: Photonic non-volatility of the synaptic devices.
Fig. 3: Mimicking STP and LTP using optoelectronic synaptic device.
Fig. 4: Photon-modulated electrochemical doping.
Fig. 5: Image memorization with a prototype-size array and high-density array fabrication.
Fig. 6: Artificial retina for face recognition.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Purdue University Research Repository at https://purr.purdue.edu/publications/4245/1.

Code availability

The code that supports the face recognition and fashion product classification within this paper is available from the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by Ambilight Inc under contract no. 4000187.02 (K.C., J.M., I.S., W.L., A.A). Work at the University of Texas at San Antonio was supported by the Welch Foundation through the Welch Chair under grant no. AX-0045-20110629 (H.G., K.S). H.H. contributed to simulation for facial and object recognition with no funding support. In addition, the authors are grateful to L. Pan and Q. Qian for their valuable contributions and insights in photolithography printing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Ke Chen, Hang Hu, Inho Song, Won-June Lee, Ashkan Abtahi & Jianguo Mei

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Habtom B. Gobeze & Kirk S. Schanze

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  1. Ke Chen
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Contributions

K.C. and J.M. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. K.C. performed the experiments and characterization. H.H. performed simulation for facial and object recognition. I.S. performed microelectrode patterning. H.G. and K.S. performed transient spectroscopy measurements. W.L. and A.A. provided comments during the experiments and revision. K.C. and J.M. drafted the manuscript and all authors contributed towards writing the paper.

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Correspondence to Jianguo Mei.

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Competing interests

J.M. is a cofounder of Ambilight Inc., which sponsors this work. A patent disclosure was filed by Purdue University. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Photonics thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Discussion, Figs. 1–31, Tables 1 and 2 and References.

Supplementary Video

Device response to hand wave in ambient lighting condition.

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Chen, K., Hu, H., Song, I. et al. Organic optoelectronic synapse based on photon-modulated electrochemical doping. Nat. Photon. 17, 629–637 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-023-01232-x

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