Optical control of memristor dynamics for neuromorphic computing

在这个项目中，学生将建立在我们最近对硅基忆阻器所做的工作的基础上，在这些工作中，我们已经展示了如何利用忆阻器电阻的动态变化来执行诸如边缘检测之类的计算任务。最近，我们展示了如何使用光刺激来控制阻力逐渐变化的动态。学生将致力于阐明支配这些光驱动的电阻变化的机制(S)，并将研究如何结合对忆阻器的光和电刺激来诱导一系列振荡行为，这些行为可能被用来更好地模拟不同类别神经元的行为，产生随机数，并执行计算任务。项目目标是：-表征利用光学刺激可以获得的电阻变化动态的控制程度。-了解光学响应的物理来源。-优化材料和器件结构，以最大化忆阻器的组合光学和电学响应。-通过适当的系统级演示器，说明如何使用响应来在基于忆阻器的系统中产生新的功能。-开发一套最好地描述新系统的度量标准(在设备和重要的系统级别)，并将这些方法与现有的神经形态方法进行基准比较。目标是生产一个原型系统演示器，并将其性能与现有的数字和模拟神经形态系统进行基准比较。

In this project the student will build on recent work we have performed on silicon-based memristors in which we have shown how dynamic changes in memristor resistance can be used to perform computing tasks such as edge detection. Most recently, we have shown how optical stimulation can be used to control the dynamics of gradual resistance changes. The student will work to elucidate the mechanism(s) governing these optically-driven resistance changes and will look at how combined optical & electronic stimulation of memristors can be used to induce a range of oscillatory behaviours, which may be used to better mimic the behaviour of different classes of neuron, to generate random numbers, and to perform computational tasks. The project objectives are:- To characterise the degree of control of the dynamics of resistance changes that can be obtained using optical stimulation.- To understand the physical origin of the optical response.- To optimise material and device structure to maximise the combined optical and electrical response of memristors.- To illustrate, via an appropriate system-level demonstrator, how the response can be used to generate new functionality in memristor-based systems.- To develop a set of metrics to best characterise the novel systems (at both device and, importantly, system level), and to benchmark these against existing neuromorphic approaches.The aim will be to produce a prototype system demonstrator and to benchmark its performance against existing digital and analogue neuromorphic systems.