Tunable flexible artificial synapses: a new path to wearable electronic systems

Electrical and Electronic Engineering
#Paper Title: Tunable flexible al synapses: a new path towards a wearable electronic system
Journal:
Kunlong Yang et al
Published: 2018/7/23
Digital ID: 10.1186/s41528-018-0033-1
Original Link:Mechanically flexible artificial synapses based on memory transistors that exhibit different types of synapse plasticity. Synapses are an essential component of neuro-morphological computation (a brain-inspired method designed to provide a more efficient method of computation than traditional methods). Currently, Yiqiang Zhan, Lirong Zheng and Fernando Seoane, with collaborators from Sweden and China, report on an artificial synapse based on a mechanically flexible memory transistor. The key to this synhap design is a three-end structure that can be gate-tuned. By adjusting the voltage at the extremes of the gate, changes in the device can be compensated for, resulting in increased synapse consistency and repeatability. The researchers also found that gate tuning reduced the total energy consumption of each peak event to 45 fJ, and demonstrated various synhaptic plastic features that are important for replicating neuroplastic behavior.flexible electronic components have been considered an effective way to achieve wearable electronic systems. However, the development of this field has stalled because traditional computing models cannot match existing flexible devices. This study proposes a new way to achieve this goal by combining flexible devices with neurosurgery architectures. Create a high-performance flexible artificial synapse by carefully designing and optimizing memory transistors. The device performs well enough to achieve near-linear non-volatile resistance changes in 10,000 identical pulse signals over a dynamic range of 515%, and energy consumption per pulse is as low as 45fJ. It also has several synistan plasticity features that make it available for real-time online learning. In addition, the consistency and repeatability of the device are improved due to the adaptability of its three-end structure, while reducing energy consumption. This work provides a very feasible solution for wearable computing in the future.The flexible electronics has been deemed to be a promising approach to the wearable electronic systems. However, the mismatching between the existing flexible deices and the conventional computing paradigm results an impasse in this field. In this work, a new way to access to this goal is proposed by combining flexible devices and the neuromorphic architecture together. To achieve that, a high-performance flexible artificial synapse is created based on a carefully designed and optimized memristive transistor. The device exhibits high-performance which has near-linear non-volatile resistance change under 10,000 identical pulse signals within the 515% dynamic range, and has the energy consumption as low as 45 fJ per pulse. It also displays multiple synaptic plasticity features, which demonstrates its potential for real-time online learning. Besides, the adaptability by virtue of its three-terminal structure specifically contributes its improved uniformity, repeatability, and reduced power consumption. This work offers a very viable solution for the future wearable computing.(Source: Science.com)