A Transparent Photonic Artificial Visual Cortex

Abstract

Mimicking brain‐like functionality with an electronic device is an essential step toward the design of future technologies including artificial visual and memory applications. Here, a proof‐of‐concept all‐oxide‐based (NiO/TiO2) highly transparent (54%) heterostructure is proposed and demonstrated, which mimics the primitive functions of the visual cortex. Specifically, orientation selectivity and spatiotemporal processing similar to that of the visual cortex are demonstrated using direct optical stimuli under the self‐biased condition due to photovoltaic effect, illustrating an energy‐efficient approach for neuromorphic computing. The photocurrent of the device can be modulated from zero to 80 µA by simply rotating the slit by 90°. The device shows fast rise and fall times of 3 and 6 ms, respectively. Based on Kelvin probe force measurements, the observed results are attributed to a lateral photovoltaic effect. This highly transparent, self‐biased, photonic triggered device paves the way for the advancement of energy‐efficient neuromorphic computation.

Nano-engineering and functionalization of hybrid Au–MexOy–TiO2(Me = W, Ga) hetero-interfaces for optoelectronic receptors and nociceptors

“…16 The integration of a volatile photosensor into non-volatile memory devices is an outstanding achievement, enabling the memorization of the optical signals towards the development of image processing systems. [17][18][19][20][21] For instance, the combination of an Al 2 O 3 memristor and In 2 O 3 photodetector made it possible to mimic the functionalities of the human visual system. 22 However, the physical limitations for the development of voluminous devices with high energy consumption have pushed research toward the minimization of optical synaptic units into individual setups, which can simultaneously act as opto-receptors and memristors.…”

Retina‐Inspired Carbon Nitride‐Based Photonic Synapses for Selective Detection of UV Light

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bodies for perception. [4,5] A vertebrate retina possesses cone cells that detect light of a specific wavelength, and that preprocess information about their intensity, before relaying the information to the brain (Figure 1a). [6] To emulate visual perception of retina, photonic synapses can combine two functions of sensing and synaptic elements in a single device with a more compact form than the conventional one that consists of two devices.

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“…Human beings interact with their environments by perceiving and responding to external stimuli such as light, sound, pressure, and chemicals . Among external stimuli, 80% of detected information is by the visual sense, so the retina could be considered as one of the most important part of human bodies for perception . A vertebrate retina possesses cone cells that detect light of a specific wavelength, and that preprocess information about their intensity, before relaying the information to the brain ( Figure a)…”

Recent Progress in Optoelectronic Synapses for Artificial Visual‐Perception System

“…Recently, numerous materials and architectures have been utilized to implement artificial optoelectronic synapses to emulate visual perception function. [ 24 ] In optoelectronic synapses, the light pulses are regarded as the action potentials applied to the postsynaptic terminal, similar to external voltage stimuli of electrical synapses. Thus, device architectures of electrical synapses including the two‐terminal structure and three‐terminal transistor geometry could be adopted in optoelectronic synapses using the photosensitive materials.…”