Neurotransmitter release in chemical synapses is fundamental to diverse brain functions such as motor action, learning, cognition, emotion, perception, and consciousness. Moreover, improper functioning or abnormal release of neurotransmitter is associated with numerous neurological disorders such as epilepsy, sclerosis, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. We have utilized hysteresis engineering in a back-gated MoS field effect transistor (FET) in order to mimic such neurotransmitter release dynamics in chemical synapses. All three essential features, i.e., quantal, stochastic, and excitatory or inhibitory nature of neurotransmitter release, were accurately captured in our experimental demonstration. We also mimicked an important phenomenon called long-term potentiation (LTP), which forms the basis of human memory. Finally, we demonstrated how to engineer the LTP time by operating the MoS FET in different regimes. Our findings could provide a critical component toward the design of next-generation smart and intelligent human-like machines and human-machine interfaces.
Hysteretic switching with a sub-kT/q steep slope (13 mV/decade at room temperature) is experimentally demonstrated in MOSFETs with PbZr 0.52 Ti 0.48 O 3 as a ferroelectric (FE) gate insulator, integrated on a silicon channel with a nonperovskite high-k dielectric (HfO 2 ) as a buffer interlayer. The steep switching is independent of drain bias. For the first time, sub-kT/q switching due to FE negative capacitance is observed not at low currents, but in strong inversion (I d ∼ 100 µA/µm). Steep switching in strong inversion provides an important point of consistency with the predictions of the Landau-Devonshire theory and the Landau-Khalatnikov equation.
INDEX TERMSFerroelectric (FE) field-effect transistor (FET), lead zirconate titanate, negative capacitance (NC), sub-kT/q switching.
The effect of diameter variation on electrical characteristics of long-channel InAs nanowire metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors is experimentally investigated. For a range of nanowire diameters, in which significant band gap changes are observed due to size quantization, the Schottky barrier heights between source/drain metal contacts and the semiconducting nanowire channel are extracted considering both thermionic emission and thermally assisted tunneling. Nanowires as small as 10 nm in diameter were used in device geometry in this context. Interestingly, while experimental and simulation data are consistent with a band gap increase for decreasing nanowire diameter, the experimentally determined Schottky barrier height is found to be around 110 meV irrespective of the nanowire diameter. These observations indicate that for nanowire devices the density of states at the direct conduction band minimum impacts the so-called branching point. Our findings are thus distinctly different from bulk-type results when metal contacts are formed on three-dimensional InAs crystals.
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