An organic electrochemical neuron for a neuromorphic perception system

Yao Yao; Robert M. Pankow; Wei Huang; Cui Wu; Lin Gao; Yongjoon Cho; Jianhua Chen; Dayong Zhang; Sakshi Sharma; Xiaoxue Liu; Yuyang Wang; Bo Peng; Sein Chung; Kilwon Cho; Simone Fabiano; Zunzhong Ye; Jianfeng Ping; Tobin J. Marks; Antonio Facchetti

doi:10.1073/pnas.2414879122

An organic electrochemical neuron for a neuromorphic perception system

Yao Yao, Robert M. Pankow, Wei Huang^*, Cui Wu, Lin Gao, Yongjoon Cho, Jianhua Chen, Dayong Zhang, Sakshi Sharma, Xiaoxue Liu, Yuyang Wang, Bo Peng, Sein Chung, Kilwon Cho, Simone Fabiano, Zunzhong Ye, Jianfeng Ping^*, Tobin J. Marks^*, Antonio Facchetti^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Human perception systems are highly refined, relying on an adaptive, plastic, and event-driven network of sensory neurons. Drawing inspiration from Nature, neuromorphic perception systems hold tremendous potential for efficient multisensory signal processing in the physical world; however, the development of an efficient artificial neuron with a widely calibratable spiking range and reduced footprint remains challenging. Here, we report an efficient organic electrochemical neuron (OECN) with reduced footprint (<37 mm²) based on high-performance vertical OECT (vOECT) complementary circuitry enabled by an advanced n-type polymer for balanced p-/n-type vOECT performance. The OECN exhibits outstanding neuronal characteristics, capable of producing spikes with a widely calibratable state-of-the art firing frequency range of 0.130 to 147.1 Hz. Leveraging this capability, we develop a neuromorphic perception system that integrates mechanical sensors with the OECN and integrates them with an artificial synapse for tactile perception. The system successfully encodes tactile stimulations into frequency-dependent spikes, which are further converted into postsynaptic responses. This bioinspired design demonstrates significant potential to advance cyborg and neuromorphic systems, providing them with perceptual capabilities.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e2414879122
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	122
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2414879122
State	Published - Jan 14 2025

Funding

This work was supported by AFOSR (FA9550-22-1-0423), the Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Award NSF DMR-230869, Flexterra Corp., the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (No. 32425040), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32201648). A.F. acknowledges AFOSR (FA2386-24-1-4040). R.M.P. acknowledges support from the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. The Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program at Northwestern University was administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. We thank the IMSERC NMR facility at Northwestern University, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633), International Institute of Nanotechnology (IIN), and Northwestern University. This work also made use of the Scanned Probe Imaging and Development facility of Northwestern University\u2019s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633), the IIN, and Northwestern's MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139).

Keywords

bioelectronics
neuromorphic
organic polymer
organic transistors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

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10.1073/pnas.2414879122

Cite this

Yao, Y., Pankow, R. M., Huang, W., Wu, C., Gao, L., Cho, Y., Chen, J., Zhang, D., Sharma, S., Liu, X., Wang, Y., Peng, B., Chung, S., Cho, K., Fabiano, S., Ye, Z., Ping, J., Marks, T. J., & Facchetti, A. (2025). An organic electrochemical neuron for a neuromorphic perception system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(2), Article e2414879122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2414879122

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abstract = "Human perception systems are highly refined, relying on an adaptive, plastic, and event-driven network of sensory neurons. Drawing inspiration from Nature, neuromorphic perception systems hold tremendous potential for efficient multisensory signal processing in the physical world; however, the development of an efficient artificial neuron with a widely calibratable spiking range and reduced footprint remains challenging. Here, we report an efficient organic electrochemical neuron (OECN) with reduced footprint (<37 mm2) based on high-performance vertical OECT (vOECT) complementary circuitry enabled by an advanced n-type polymer for balanced p-/n-type vOECT performance. The OECN exhibits outstanding neuronal characteristics, capable of producing spikes with a widely calibratable state-of-the art firing frequency range of 0.130 to 147.1 Hz. Leveraging this capability, we develop a neuromorphic perception system that integrates mechanical sensors with the OECN and integrates them with an artificial synapse for tactile perception. The system successfully encodes tactile stimulations into frequency-dependent spikes, which are further converted into postsynaptic responses. This bioinspired design demonstrates significant potential to advance cyborg and neuromorphic systems, providing them with perceptual capabilities.",

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Yao, Y, Pankow, RM, Huang, W, Wu, C, Gao, L, Cho, Y, Chen, J, Zhang, D, Sharma, S, Liu, X, Wang, Y, Peng, B, Chung, S, Cho, K, Fabiano, S, Ye, Z, Ping, J, Marks, TJ & Facchetti, A 2025, 'An organic electrochemical neuron for a neuromorphic perception system', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 122, no. 2, e2414879122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2414879122

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AU - Chen, Jianhua

AU - Zhang, Dayong

AU - Sharma, Sakshi

AU - Liu, Xiaoxue

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AU - Peng, Bo

AU - Chung, Sein

AU - Cho, Kilwon

AU - Fabiano, Simone

AU - Ye, Zunzhong

AU - Ping, Jianfeng

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An organic electrochemical neuron for a neuromorphic perception system

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