Programmable van-der-Waals heterostructure-enabled optoelectronic synaptic floating-gate transistors with ultra-low energy consumption

van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures provide a unique opportunity to develop various electronic and optoelectronic devices with specific functions by designing novel device structures, especially for bioinspired neuromorphic optoelectronic devices, which require the integration of nonvolatile memory and excellent optical responses. Here, we demonstrate a programmable optoelectronic synaptic floating-gate transistor based on multilayer graphene/h-BN/MoS2 vdW heterostructures, where both plasticity emulation and modulation were successfully realized in a single device. The dynamic tunneling process of photogenerated carriers through the as-fabricated vdW heterostructures contributed to a large memory ratio (10(5)) between program and erase states. Our device can work as a functional or silent synapse by applying a program/erase voltage spike as a modulatory signal to determine the response to light stimulation, leading to a programmable operation in optoelectronic synaptic transistors. Moreover, an ultra-low energy consumption per light spike event (similar to 2.5 fJ) was obtained in the program state owing to a suppressed noise current by program operation in our floating-gate transistor. This study proposes a feasible strategy to improve the functions of optoelectronic synaptic devices with ultra-low energy consumption based on vdW heterostructures designed for highly efficient artificial neural networks.

Automated summary

In this study, a programmable optoelectronic synaptic floating-gate transistor based on multilayer graphene/h-BN/MoS2 van der Waals heterostructures was demonstrated. The device achieved both plasticity emulation and modulation, and had a large memory ratio between program and erase states due to the dynamic tunneling process of photogenerated carriers. By applying a program/erase voltage spike, the device could function as a functional or silent synapse, providing programmable operation in optoelectronic synaptic transistors. The program state also resulted in ultra-low energy consumption per light spike event.