E2CDA: Type II: A new non-volatile electrochemical transistor as an artificial synapse: device scaling studies

使计算能力超越摩尔定律限制的一种方法是建立模仿大脑的计算机架构。事实上，大脑能够执行某些类型的复杂计算，例如模式识别，非常有效，并且使用低功耗，尽管它固有的低速度。在这个提议中，我们探索了一种新型装置，它展示了大脑中发现的突触的一些有用特性，比如超低功耗开关。它的工作机制将被详细研究，设备阵列将被制造和小型化，以便向类脑集成电路迈出第一步。这些设备通常被称为神经形态电子学，是一个越来越受关注的领域，因此，该奖项中开展的研究有可能影响微电子工业的未来，并为这一新兴领域培养出一批受过培训的劳动力。最后，该设备的光学特性可以在操作时改变颜色，这将有助于开展一项连接艺术和科学的外展活动，最终目标是吸引更多不同的学生群体进入电子设备材料科学领域。将研究一种基于聚合物半导体的模拟突触功能的新装置，称为ENODe（电化学神经形态有机装置）。超低开关能量（10 pJ），亚mv开关电压，以非易失性方式保持500个单独状态的ENODes被证明。我们将研究这种低开关能量和电压的物理根源，以优化ENODe的结构。此外，enode将由一系列不同的材料制成，利用固态技术将开关速度从1khz提高到MHz范围，从而实现更高水平的集成度。最后，采用与传统微电子相同的工艺，制作enode阵列，以测试这些新器件的可重复性和缩放规律。

One way to move computational power beyond the limits imposed by Moore's Law is to build computer architectures that mimic the brain. Indeed the brain is able to perform certain classes of complex computations, such as pattern recognition, very efficiently and using low power in spite of its inherent low speed. A novel device that exhibits some of the useful properties of the synapses found in the brain, such as ultra low-power switching, is explored in this proposal. Its working mechanism will be studied in detail and arrays of devices will be fabricated and miniaturized in order to provide a first step towards brain-like integrated circuits. Neuromorphic electronics, as these devices are often called, are a growing area of interest, therefore the research developed in this award has the potential to impact the future of the microelectronics industry and to produce a workforce trained for this emerging area. Finally, the optical properties of the device, which changes color upon operation, will allow to develop an outreach activity connecting art and science with the ultimate goal of attracting a more diverse student population to the area of materials science of electronic devices.A new device based on polymeric semiconductors that mimics the functions of synapses, called ENODe (electrochemical neuromorphic organic device), will be studied. ENODes with ultra-low switching energy (10 pJ), sub-mV switching voltage, retaining 500 individual states in a non-volatile fashion were demonstrated. The physical origin of such low switching energies and voltages will be investigated with the goal of optimizing the architecture of the ENODe. Furthermore, ENODes will be fabricated with an array of different materials that may enable a higher level of integration making use of solid-state technology to increase the switching speed beyond 1 kHz into the MHz range. Finally, using the same process used in traditional microelectronics, arrays of ENODes will be fabricated to test the reproducibility and the scaling laws of these new devices.