Flexible printed single-walled carbon nanotubes olfactory synaptic transistors with crosslinked poly(4-vinylphenol) as dielectrics

Flexible brain-inspired neuromorphic transistors are spring up in the scopes of artificial electronic skins and human-interactive electronics for wearable devices and robotic applications benefiting from the capability of synchronous recognition and processing of the external information. In this work, we reported the flexible printed single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) synaptic thin film transistors (TFTs) with printed silver electrodes as source/drain and gate electrodes, and the solid state electrolyte blending ionic liquids with crosslinked-poly(4-vinylphenol) (c-PVP) as dielectric layers. Our flexible printed SWCNT synaptic transistors display excellent electrical properties, such as low operation voltages (between +/- 1 V), high on/off ratios (>10(6)) and low off currents (similar to 10(-12) A), as well good stability and good mechanical flexibility. These flexible printed SWCNT TFT devices can imitate some typical synaptic plasticities like excitatory postsynaptic current and paired-pulse facilitation. The results indicate that synaptic behaviors of flexible devices are related to weight concentrations of ionic liquids in ionic c-PVP insulators. Moreover, our synaptic transistors can imitate the olfactory neurons and show the inhibitory characteristic when triggered by under a series of electrical stimulations after exposure to NH3.

Automated summary

Flexible brain-inspired neuromorphic transistors demonstrate excellent electrical properties and the ability to mimic synaptic plasticity. The behavior of these devices is related to the weight concentration of ionic liquids and they can simulate the inhibitory characteristics of olfactory neurons.