Vertical 0.6 V sub-10 nm oxide-homojunction transistor gated by a silk fibroin/sodium alginate crosslinking hydrogel for pain-sensitization enhancement emulation

The sensory nervous system of humans mainly depends on continuous training and memory to improve the pain-perceptional abilities for the complex noxious information in the real world and make appropriate responses. Unfortunately, the solid-state device for emulating this pain recognition with ultralow voltage operation still remains to be a great challenge. Herein, a vertical transistor with an ultrashort channel of similar to 9.6 nm and ultralow voltage of similar to 0.6 V based on protonic silk fibroin/sodium alginate crosslinking hydrogel electrolyte is successfully demonstrated. Such a hydrogel electrolyte with high ionic conductivity allows the transistor to work in an ultralow voltage, while the vertical transistor structure makes it have an ultrashort channel. Pain perception, memory, and sensitization can be integrated into this vertical transistor. Furthermore, using the photogating effect of light stimulus, the device displays multi-state pain-sensitization enhancement abilities through Pavlovian training. Most importantly, the cortical reorganization that reveals a close relationship among the pain stimulus, memory, and sensitization is finally realized. Therefore, this device can provide a great opportunity for multi-dimensional pain assessment, which is of great significance for the new generation of bio-inspired intelligent electronics, such as bionic robots, and smart medical equipment.

Automated summary

The development of a solid-state device for emulating pain recognition with ultralow voltage operation has been a great challenge. This study demonstrates a successful application of a vertical transistor with an ultrashort channel and ultralow voltage based on protonic silk fibroin/sodium alginate crosslinking hydrogel electrolyte. This device integrates pain perception, memory, and sensitization, and displays multi-state pain-sensitization enhancement abilities through Pavlovian training with the photogating effect of light stimulus. The cortical reorganization, which reveals the close relationship among pain stimulus, memory, and sensitization, is finally realized. This device provides great opportunities for multi-dimensional pain assessment and has significant implications for bio-inspired intelligent electronics.