Mnemonic-opto-synaptic transistor for in-sensor vision system

A mnemonic-opto-synaptic transistor (MOST) that has triple functions is demonstrated for an in-sensor vision system. It memorizes a photoresponsivity that corresponds to a synaptic weight as a memory cell, senses light as a photodetector, and performs weight updates as a synapse for machine vision with an artificial neural network (ANN). Herein the memory function added to a previous photodetecting device combined with a photodetector and a synapse provides a technical breakthrough for realizing in-sensor processing that is able to perform image sensing and signal processing in a sensor. A charge trap layer (CTL) was intercalated to gate dielectrics of a vertical pillar-shaped transistor for the memory function. Weight memorized in the CTL makes photoresponsivity tunable for real-time multiplication of the image with a memorized photoresponsivity matrix. Therefore, these multi-faceted features can allow in-sensor processing without external memory for the in-sensor vision system. In particular, the in-sensor vision system can enhance speed and energy efficiency compared to a conventional vision system due to the simultaneous preprocessing of massive data at sensor nodes prior to ANN nodes. Recognition of a simple pattern was demonstrated with full sets of the fabricated MOSTs. Furthermore, recognition of complex hand-written digits in the MNIST database was also demonstrated with software simulations.