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Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Gold Nanorod-assisted Optical Stimulation of Neuronal Cells
Published on: April 27, 2015
A Diffusive Artificial Synapse Based on Charged Metal Nanoparticles
Jiahui Guo1,2,3, Lin Liu1,2, Jingyu Wang1,2
1CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China.
Abstract:
We show that a diffusive memristor with analogue switching characteristics can be achieved in a layer of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with charged self-assembled monolayers (deprotonated 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid). The nanoparticle core and the anchored stationary charges are jammed within the layer while the mobile counterions [N(CH3)4+] can respond to the electric field and spontaneously diffuse back to the initial positions upon removal of the field. This metal nanoparticle device is set-step free, energy consumption efficient, mechanically flexible, and analogous to bio-Ca2+ dynamics and has tunable conductance modulation capabilities at the counterion concentrations. The gradual resistive switching behavior enables us to implement several important synaptic functions such as potentiation/depression, spike voltage-dependent plasticity, spike duration-dependent plasticity, spike frequency-dependent plasticity, and paired-pulse facilitation. Finally, on the basis of the paired-pulse facilitation characteristics, the metal nanoparticle diffusive artificial synapse is used for edge extraction with exhibits excellent performance.
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