Artificial synapses based on biopolymer electrolyte-coupled SnO2 nanowire transistors

Abstract

The fabrication of biologically inspired solid-state devices has attracted tremendous attention for decades, and the hardware implementation of artificial synapses using individual ionic/electronic hybrid devices is very important for neuromorphic applications. Herein, electric double-layer (EDL) synaptic transistors coupled by proton neurotransmitters with a multiple in-plane gate structure were successfully fabricated using SnO₂ nanowires. Not only the important synaptic functions were mimicked in these devices, but also the synaptic behaviors can be modulated over a dynamic range via the multi-terminal regulation of synaptic inputs. Furthermore, a light source was used to illuminate the SnO₂ nanowire synaptic transistors, which were used as the light-modulating terminals. The observed neuromorphic functions were also dynamically modulated via the light density. These excellent nanoscale synaptic transistors may find significant applications in synaptic electronics.