Spiking neurons from tunable Gaussian heterojunction transistors

Megan E. Beck, Ahish Shylendra, Vinod K. Sangwan, Silu Guo, William A. Gaviria Rojas, Hocheon Yoo, Hadallia Bergeron, Katherine Su, Amit R. Trivedi, Mark C. Hersam*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

81 Scopus citations

Abstract

Spiking neural networks exploit spatiotemporal processing, spiking sparsity, and high interneuron bandwidth to maximize the energy efficiency of neuromorphic computing. While conventional silicon-based technology can be used in this context, the resulting neuron-synapse circuits require multiple transistors and complicated layouts that limit integration density. Here, we demonstrate unprecedented electrostatic control of dual-gated Gaussian heterojunction transistors for simplified spiking neuron implementation. These devices employ wafer-scale mixed-dimensional van der Waals heterojunctions consisting of chemical vapor deposited monolayer molybdenum disulfide and solution-processed semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes to emulate the spike-generating ion channels in biological neurons. Circuits based on these dual-gated Gaussian devices enable a variety of biological spiking responses including phasic spiking, delayed spiking, and tonic bursting. In addition to neuromorphic computing, the tunable Gaussian response has significant implications for a range of other applications including telecommunications, computer vision, and natural language processing.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1565
JournalNature communications
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2020

Funding

This research was supported by the 2-DARE program (NSF EFRI-1433510) and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) of Northwestern University (NSF DMR-1720139). CVD growth of MoS2 was supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST CHiMaD 70NANB14H012). Charge transport instrumentation was funded by an ONR DURIP grant (ONR N00014-16-1-3179). H.B acknowledges support from the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship-Doctoral Program. M.E.B., W.A.G.R., and H.B. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. This work utilized the North-western University Micro/Nano Fabrication Facility (NUFAB), which is partially supported by Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205), the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (DMR-1720139), the State of Illinois, and Northwestern University.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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