Organic-engineered MXenes enabling digital-to-analog switching for neuromorphic application

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Electronics

Background:

• MXene-based devices offer potential for high-speed electronics but suffer from oxidation.
• Developing stable and multifunctional MXene devices is crucial for practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create stable MXene-based memristors by hybridizing with organic semiconductors.
• To explore the potential of these hybrid devices for both digital memory and analog synaptic functions.

Main Methods:

• Hybridizing MXene nanosheets with a soluble organic semiconductor (BTCN) via π-π stacking and electrostatic coupling.
• Fabricating memristors with an inert Au/MXene-BTCN/ITO structure and an active Ag top electrode.
• Testing device performance for resistive switching, endurance, switching speed, and synaptic emulation.

Main Results:

• MXene-BTCN hybrid memristors demonstrated reproducible digital resistive switching with high endurance (>3x10^4 cycles) and ultrafast switching (5 ns).
• Devices with an active Ag electrode functioned as synaptic emulators, showing polarity-dependent conductance modulation.
• A convolutional neural network utilizing these memristive arrays achieved over 97% digit recognition accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The MXene-BTCN hybridization strategy effectively passivates MXene, enabling stable and high-performance memristors.
• The hybrid devices bridge digital memory and analog synaptic functionalities, paving the way for brain-inspired computing.
• This work presents a versatile design for solution-processable MXene-organic hybrids for advanced electronic applications.