Motion detection is a primary visual function, crucial for the survival of animals in nature. Direction‐selective (DS) neurons can be found in multiple locations in the visual neural system, both in the retina and in the visual cortex. For instance, the DS ganglion cell in the retina provides a real‐time response to moving objects, which is much faster than the image recognition executed in the visual cortex. Such in‐retina biological signal processing capability is enabled by the spatiotemporal correlation within different receptive fields of the DS ganglion cells. Taking inspiration from the biological DS ganglion cells in the retina, the motion detection is demonstrated in an artificial neural network made of volatile resistive switching devices with short‐term memory effects. The motion detection arises from the spatiotemporal correlation between the adjacent excitatory and inhibitory receptive fields with short‐term memory synapses, closely resembling the physiological response of DS ganglion cells in the retina. The work supports real‐time neuromorphic processing of sensor data by exploiting the unique physics of innovative memory devices.
Novel memory devices are essential for developing low power, fast, and accurate in‐memory computing and neuromorphic engineering concepts that can compete with the conventional complementary metal−oxide−semiconductor (CMOS) digital processors. 2D semiconductors provide a novel platform for advanced semiconductors with atomic thickness, low‐current operation, and capability of 3D integration. This work presents a charge‐trap memory (CTM) device with a MoS2 channel where memory operation arises, thanks to electron trapping/detrapping at interface states. Transistor operation, memory characteristics, and synaptic potentiation/depression for neuromorphic applications are demonstrated. The CTM device shows outstanding linearity of the potentiation by applied drain pulses of equal amplitude. Finally, pattern recognition is demonstrated by reservoir computing where the input pattern is applied as a stimulation of the MoS2‐based CTMs, while the output current after stimulation is processed by a feedforward readout network. The good accuracy, the low current operation, and the robustness to input random bit flip makes the CTM device a promising technology for future high‐density neuromorphic computing concepts.
In the recent years, the need for fast, robust, and scalable memory devices have spurred the exploration of advanced materials with unique electrical properties. Among these materials, 2D semiconductors are promising candidates as they combine atomically thin size, semiconductor behavior, and complementary metal–oxide‐semiconductor compatibility. Here a three‐terminal memtransistor device, based on multilayer MoS2 with ultrashort channel length, that combines the usual transistor behavior of 2D semiconductors with resistive switching memory operation is presented. The volatile switching behavior is explained by the Ag cation migration along the channel surface. An extensive physical and electrical characterization to investigate the fundamental properties of the device, is presented. Finally, a chain‐type memory array architecture similar to a NAND flash structure consisting of memtransistors is demonstrated, where the individual memory devices can be selected for write and read, paving the way for high‐density, 3D memories based on 2D semiconductors.
Large area molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) monolayers are typically obtained by using perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic acid tetrapotassium salt (PTAS) as organic seeding promoter in chemical vapor deposition (CVD). However, the influence of the seeding promoter and the involvement of the functional groups attached to the seed molecules on the physical properties of the MoS2 monolayer are rarely taken into account. Here, it is shown that MoS2 monolayers exhibit remarkable differences in terms of the electronic polarizability by using two representative cases of seeding promoter, namely, the commercial PTAS and a home‐made perylene‐based molecule, N,N‐bis‐(5‐guanidil‐1‐pentanoic acid)‐perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic acid diimide (PTARG). By thermogravimetric analysis, it is verified that the thermal degradation of the promoters occurs differently at the CVD working condition: with a single detachment of the functional groups for PTAS and with multiple thermal events for PTARG. As a consequence, the promoter‐dependent electronic polarizability, derived by free charges trapped in the monolayer, impacts on the photoluminescence emission, as well as on the electrical performances of the monolayer channel in back‐gated field‐effect transistors. These findings suggest that the modification of the electronic polarizability, by varying the molecular promoter in a pre‐growth stage, is a path to engineer the MoS2 opto‐electronic properties.
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