Multicolor coupling perception enabled by a C8-BTBT/MoS₂ p-n junction phototransistor

Mimicking biological multicolor perception remains a key challenge for artificial vision systems. Herein, we developed a C8-BTBT/MoS₂ p-n junction phototransistor that mimics retinal trichromatic coupling through spatiotemporal dynamics and neuromorphic plasticity. The photogenerated carriers separate through the photovoltaic effect between p-type C8-BTBT and n-type MoS₂, enhancing the photoresponse and inducing photogating-mediated memory. Following the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro (BCM) learning rule, the device exhibited wavelength-selective synaptic plasticity. Short-wavelength light (450 nm) triggered rapid carrier dynamics and strong memory, whereas long-wavelength light (635 nm) elicited sustained responses, resembling biological neural adaptation. The p-n junction performed pseudo-color image processing by mapping grayscale inputs to RGB through multi-wavelength modulation, achieving in-memory color reconstruction with reduced latency and power consumption. This p-n junction phototransistor integrates sensing, storage, and processing, overcoming traditional von Neumann bottlenecks.