Optogenetics-Inspired Fluorescent Synaptic Devices with Nonvolatility

Given the synergy of optogenetics and bioimaging in neuroscience, it is possible for light to simultaneously modulate and visualize synaptic events of optoelectronic synaptic devices, which are building blocks of a neuromorphic computing system with optoelectronic integration. Here we demonstrate the realization of the simultaneous modulation and visualization of synaptic events by using optically stimulated synaptic devices based on the heterostructure of fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) and monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂). The charge-transfer-enabled photogating effect of the Si QDs/MoS₂ heterostructure leads to the nonvolatility of the synaptic devices, which exhibit important synaptic functionalities and synchronous fluorescence upon optical stimulation. An array of the Si QDs/MoS₂ optoelectronic synaptic devices is well-employed to mimic robust neural population coding. Defective devices in this array may be pinpointed by the absence of their fluorescence. This work has an important implication for the development of synaptic devices facilitating the system-level diagnosis and device-level positioning of a neuromorphic computing system.