Smart Devices Based on Soft Materials

基于软材料的智能设备

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-06633
• 负责人: McGarry, Steven
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: Carleton University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=714369
• 关键词: Smart; Devices; Based; Soft; Materials

Conventional active electronic devices are based on crystalline semiconducting materials, predominately silicon. Although the dominance of silicon continues with its limits being continually expanded, other technologies on the horizon have significant promise for complementary functions and applications unsuitable to silicon. Active “soft materials” such as conducting polymers, organic/inorganic composites and biological materials have interesting properties that can be used to provide unique functionality. These materials can also have the advantage of being compatible with flexible substrates and simple printing techniques for the fabrication of devices. Using a combination of soft materials, such as a conducting polymer, a gel electrolyte, and a suitable contact material, electronic/ionic/photonic devices can be fabricated. These devices can be made to operate not only in response to electrical signals but also using the movement and availability of ions. Being inherently electrochromic, meaning that their state of electronic operation is evident from their colour, allows optical interrogation to be used as a readout mechanism. To date we have used electronic/ionic/photonic devices to implement transistors, sigmoid transfer functions, and both short and long term memory elements as well as investigating several photoactive device technologies for implementing optical control. The proposed program is to further this work to allow combining arrays of these active elements with a compatible parallel input technology, such as printable photoactive arrays, permitting the formation of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional systems that emulate functions similar to those normally accomplished using neurons in biological systems (neuromorphic). In the long term this will make possible the fabrication of complex cellular structures for the implementation of retina-like image processing functions. Adding more layers and other functionalities, like optical gating and/or multiple selective ion transport, will allow for even more complex intelligent processing systems. The implementation of some "intelligent" functions in neuromorphic hardware is an important area of research that has recently become very popular due to the rise of work on memristor-type technologies, which are a part of this effort. This work has and will continue to expand the knowledge in this area and and push toward commercialization of the technologies in Canada adding a complementary effort to software-based AI, in which Canada is already at the forefront.

传统的有源电子器件是基于晶体半导体材料，