Full van der Waals Ambipolar Ferroelectric Configurable Optical Hetero-Synapses for In-Sensor Computing

Area of Science:

• Neuromorphic Engineering
• Materials Science
• Optoelectronics

Background:

• Visual neuromorphic hardware captures, stores, and processes optical signals.
• Current limitations include high cost, large volume, and significant energy consumption for complex functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a multifunctional optical synaptic device based on a three-terminal van der Waals (vdW) heterojunction.
• To realize sensing of light wavelength and intensity, and synaptic plasticity (short-term and long-term).
• To apply the device in an optical reservoir neural network (ORNN) and a visible light communication (VLC) system.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a three-terminal vdW heterojunction optical synaptic device.
• Integration of the device into an ORNN for image recognition tasks.
• Implementation of the device in a VLC system for high-speed data transmission.

Main Results:

• The optical synaptic device successfully sensed light wavelength and intensity, and exhibited synaptic plasticity.
• The ORNN achieved an 84.9% recognition rate on the CIFAR-10 color image dataset (50,000 images, 10 categories).
• The VLC system demonstrated high-speed transmission with ultra-low power consumption (0.4 nW).

Conclusions:

• vdW heterojunctions offer significant potential for low-power, multifunctional applications in visual bionics.
• The developed optical synaptic device paves the way for advanced neuromorphic computing systems.
• This technology enables efficient and compact solutions for visual sensing and communication.