Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Photoluminescence: Fluorescence and Phosphorescence

Photoluminescence: Fluorescence and Phosphorescence

Photoluminescence is a process where a molecule absorbs light energy and re-emits it in the form of light. This phenomenon occurs when a substance absorbs photons, promoting its electrons to higher energy level excited states, followed by a relaxation process in which the electrons return to their original ground state energy levels and emit light. Photoluminescence is widely observed in various materials, including semiconductors, and organic and inorganic compounds.
A pair of electrons in a...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Morphogenesis and topological evolution of a frustrated nematic liquid crystal under confinement.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

Ambient to Cryogenic High-Frequency Response of Zero-Bias Graphene Photodetectors.

ACS applied materials & interfaces·2026

Same author

Optical Fourier Surfaces for Integrated Photonics.

ACS nano·2026

Same author

Ultra-Precise Dispensing for Rapid and Flexible Through-Silicon Via Filling.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same author

Neural network nonlinear mitigation and coherent combining to improve the SNR of free-space optical communication systems.

Optics express·2026

Same author

Sensing μm-scale vibrations in the Hz range within a THz communication system.

Optics express·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Patterned Photostimulation with Digital Micromirror Devices to Investigate Dendritic Integration Across Branch Points

Patterned Photostimulation with Digital Micromirror Devices to Investigate Dendritic Integration Across Branch Points

Published on: March 2, 2011

Self-Induced Light Emission in Solid-State Memristors Replicates Neuronal Biophotons.

Konstantin Malchow¹, Till Zellweger², Bojun Cheng³

¹Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne CNRS UMR 6303, Université de Bourgogne, 21000 Dijon, France.

|August 23, 2024

Summary

Memristors, electronic components mimicking neurons, emit light similar to biological neurons. This discovery enables new atomic-scale devices that can process information using both electrons and photons.

Keywords:

SiO2 luminescent defects anomalous diffusion artificial neuron biophotons electron traps memristor second-order autocorrelation

More Related Videos

Using Affordable LED Arrays for Photo-Stimulation of Neurons

Using Affordable LED Arrays for Photo-Stimulation of Neurons

Published on: November 15, 2011

Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes

Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes

Published on: March 9, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Patterned Photostimulation with Digital Micromirror Devices to Investigate Dendritic Integration Across Branch Points

Patterned Photostimulation with Digital Micromirror Devices to Investigate Dendritic Integration Across Branch Points

Published on: March 2, 2011

Using Affordable LED Arrays for Photo-Stimulation of Neurons

Using Affordable LED Arrays for Photo-Stimulation of Neurons

Published on: November 15, 2011

Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes

Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes

Published on: March 9, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience and Materials Science
Solid-state physics and bio-inspired computing

Background:

Neuronal functions are emulated by hardware, notably memristors replicating electrochemical dynamics like synaptic plasticity.
Neurons communicate via electrical signals and also emit biophotons, potentially serving as an additional information carrier.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if memristors, like neurons, emit photons during operation.
To determine if memristor photon emission replicates critical biophoton attributes.
To explore the potential for memristive devices to handle both electronic and photonic information.

Main Methods:

Operated memristors and analyzed their photon emission during electrical activity.
Characterized emitted photons for attributes including self-generation, stochasticity, spectral coverage, and sparsity.
Performed time-resolved analysis correlating current transport with photon emission activity.

Main Results:

Memristors were shown to release photons during operation, mimicking neuronal light emission.
The emitted photons exhibited key biophoton characteristics: self-generation, stochasticity, spectral coverage, and correlation with electrical activity.
Photon emission was localized to a nanometer-sized area, originating from few electroluminescent centers excited by moderate voltages (<3 V).

Conclusions:

Memristors can emulate not only neuronal electrical activity but also neuronal optical activity.
This research paves the way for novel memristive devices capable of processing information using both electrons and photons.
The findings advance the development of bio-inspired computing hardware with dual information carrier capabilities.