Ultralow Power Optoelectronic Memtransistors Based on Vertical WS₂/In₂Se₃ van der Waals Heterostructures

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Computer Engineering

Background:

• 2D van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures are key for artificial synaptic devices and neuromorphic computing.
• Memtransistors offer nonvolatile memory, ultralow power, and biomimetic synaptic behavior.
• WS2/In2Se3 vdW heterostructures present a novel platform for advanced electronic devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an optoelectronic memtransistor based on WS2/In2Se3 vdW heterostructure.
• To investigate its optical and electrical synaptic properties, simulating short-range plasticity (STP) and long-range plasticity (LTP).
• To explore its potential for neuromorphic computing applications, including logic operations and data recognition.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a WS2/In2Se3 vdW heterostructure-based optoelectronic memtransistor.
• Characterization of optical and electrical synaptic behaviors, including STP and LTP simulation.
• Evaluation of device performance in logic operations and data recognition tasks using MNIST dataset.

Main Results:

• The memtransistor exhibits significant optical and electrical synaptic properties, mimicking biological synapses.
• Achieved ultralow power consumption of 7.7 aJ per spike under optical stimulation.
• Demonstrated successful execution of multiple logic operations and achieved 85.41% recognition accuracy on the MNIST dataset, robust to noise.

Conclusions:

• WS2/In2Se3 optoelectronic memtransistors show great potential for large-scale neuromorphic hardware.
• The device's ability to simulate synaptic plasticity and perform complex tasks highlights its versatility.
• This research paves the way for next-generation, energy-efficient computing systems.