Superlow Power Consumption Artificial Synapses Based on WSe₂ Quantum Dots Memristor for Neuromorphic Computing

As the emerging member of zero-dimension transition metal dichalcogenide, WSe₂ quantum dots (QDs) have been applied to memristors and exhibited better resistance switching characteristics and miniaturization size. However, low power consumption and high reliability are still challenges for WSe₂ QDs-based memristors as synaptic devices. Here, we demonstrate a high-performance, superlow power consumption memristor device with the structure of Ag/WSe₂ QDs/La_0.3Sr_0.7MnO₃/SrTiO₃. The device displays excellent resistive switching memory behavior with a R _OFF/R _ON ratio of ~5 × 10³, power consumption per switching as low as 0.16 nW, very low set, and reset voltage of ~0.52 V and~ -0.19 V with excellent cycling stability, good reproducibility, and decent data retention capability. The superlow power consumption characteristic of the device is further proved by the method of density functional theory calculation. In addition, the influence of pulse amplitude, duration, and interval was studied to gradually modulating the conductance of the device. The memristor has also been demonstrated to simulate different functions of artificial synapses, such as excitatory postsynaptic current, spike timing-dependent plasticity, long-term potentiation, long-term depression, and paired-pulse facilitation. Importantly, digit recognition ability based on the WSe₂ QDs device is evaluated through a three-layer artificial neural network, and the digit recognition accuracy after 40 times of training can reach up to 94.05%. This study paves a new way for the development of memristor devices with advanced significance for future low power neuromorphic computing.