Investigation of Leaky Characteristic in a Single-Transistor-Based Leaky Integrate-and-Fire Neuron

Leaky characteristic in a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron is important to prevent a permanent effect on a single input stimulus in an artificial neuromorphic system as well as a biological nerve. In a proposed single-transistor-based LIF neuron (1T-neuron), band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) dominates the leaky characteristic. Three methods to control the leaky characteristic of a 1T-neuron are demonstrated in this work: controlling the relative location of the drain junction edge to a gate, tuning the gate voltage (V-G), and modulating body doping concentration (N-sub). The 1T-neuron becomes leakier with a more over-lapped drain junction with the gate, decreased V-G, and increased Nsub by accelerating the BTBT.

Automated summary

The leaky characteristic of a 1T-neuron can be controlled by adjusting the relative position of the drain junction to the gate, tuning the gate voltage, and modulating the body doping concentration, which accelerates band-to-band tunneling.