Engineering halogen-doped carbon dots for enhanced bioinspired synapses toward neuromorphic computing and neural...

Neural interfaces demand memristor-based artificial synapses with comprehensive performance for neuromorphic computing and man-machine interaction. This study proposes a halogen doping engineering to enhance carbon dots (CDs)-based memristors performance for artificial synapses. Halogen-doped CDs (FCDs, ClCDs, BrCDs) and undoped CDs (UCDs) were synthesized via a solvothermal method. Systematic characterization confirms successful doping and reveals that Br doping optimally modulates electronic structure. The BrCDs-based memristor demonstrates the best memristor performance among these devices. Experimental and computational results illustrate that appropriate electronegativity of Br atoms can facilitate electron trapping and detrapping process. As a bioinspired synapse, the device successfully mimics key short-term and long-term plasticity, and demonstrates excellent performance in image classification tasks. Furthermore, the BrCDs-based device serves as the core of an artificial neural interface chip, successfully enabling chemical neurotransmitter dopamine release and eliciting Ca²⁺ responses in PC12 cells, realizing information communication with the neural system and addressing the mismatch between conventional electronic interfaces and the chemical signaling of biological synapses. This work exhibits the potential of halogen-doped CDs, particularly BrCDs, in advancing artificial synapses integrating the functions of neuromorphic computing and adaptive learning interaction.