High-Performance Flexible Photonic Synapse Transistors Based on a Bulk Composite Film of Organic Semiconductors with Complementary Absorption

doi:10.6023/A22030096

Abstract

Photonic synapse transistors have attracted growing attention due to their salient advantages in information transmission/processing and good potentials for analog neural computing. Currently, most synapse transistors are rigid devices with the limitations in flexible and highly photosensitive semiconductor channel layers. To achieve high-performance flexible photonic synapse transistors, it is essential to develop stimuli-responsive organic semiconductor thin-films to broaden the photo-response range of devices and accelerate separation of photoinduced carriers for improving synaptic performances. Here, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(indacenodithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole) (PIDT-BT) materials with complementary optical absorption have been used to fabricate a bulk composite film of organic semiconductor heterostructures by a solution-processing method. The surface structures and optoelectronic properties of the PIDT-BT:P3HT film and their single component films are studied. By using the PIDT-BT:P3HT heterostructure film as a novel photoactive channel layer, flexible low-voltage photonic synapse transistors have been designed and fabricated with the combination of polyelectrolyte-based dielectrics. The effects of different optical stimulation conditions on the performance of synapse transistors are investigated with insightful discussion on the semiconductor mechanisms. The flexible synapse transistors based on the PIDT-BT:P3HT film exhibit higher excitatory postsynaptic currents than devices with the single component semiconductor layers at the same optical stimulation. The synaptic response of the PIDT-BT:P3HT-based device is also evaluated under different stimulus variables including the optical spike wavelength, duration and frequency. As results, good synaptic characteristics are observed including the high excitatory postsynaptic current, paired-pulse facilitation, and frequency-dependent properties with the tunable synaptic plasticity. It is found that the response in excitatory postsynaptic current of the synaptic device stimulated by two beams (520 nm green laser and 685 nm red laser) together is greater than the sum of the responses stimulated by each beam alone. These results are useful for the design of high-performance photoresponsive semiconductor films and photonic synapse transistors, which are conducive to the development of low-power flexible optoelectronic devices, artificial synapses and beyond.

Key words: organic semiconductor, thin-film transistor, photonic synapse device, flexible electronics, low-voltage

Cite this article

Jiaxian Sun, Yuting Liu, Zhigang Yin, Qingdong Zheng. High-Performance Flexible Photonic Synapse Transistors Based on a Bulk Composite Film of Organic Semiconductors with Complementary Absorption[J]. Acta Chimica Sinica, 2022, 80(7): 936-945.

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Fig. & Tab. 10

Figure 1. Schematic diagrams of (a) biological synapses and (b) photonic synapse transistors, as well as (c) molecule structures of PIDT-BT and P3HT

Figure 2. AFM analysis for (a~c) height images and (d~f) adhesion images of three organic semiconductor films including PIDT-BT (a, d), PIDT-BT:P3HT (b, e), and P3HT (c, f)

Figure 3. UV-Vis absorption spectra of three organic semiconductor films

Figure 4. ΔEPSC response of the flexible photonic synapse transistors based on three organic semiconductor films to the laser pulses of 100 s duration (400 ms per pulse, and pulse interval of 100 ms). (a) PIDT-BT, (b) PIDT-BT:P3HT, and (c) P3HT

Figure 5. (a) Schematic structure diagram of the PIDT-BT:P3HT bulk composite channel film in the photonic synapse transistor. (b~d) Schematic energy level diagrams of the PIDT-BT:P3HT semiconductor layer under different optical stimulation conditions: (b) 685 nm red beam, (c) 520 nm green beam, and (d) the combined 520 nm green beam and 685 nm red beam

Figure 6. ΔEPSC response of the PIDT-BT:P3HT photonic synapse transistor under different light pulses. (a) Response to a single optical pulse (pulse duration of 700 ms), and (b) relationship between the ΔEPSCmax and the duration of light pulse

Figure 7. (a) ΔEPSC response of the PIDT-BT:P3HT photonic synapse transistor under different light pulses. (a) Response to two consecutive optical pulses (pulse duration of 400 ms, and pulse interval of 400 ms), and (b) relationship between the PPF index and Δt

Optical stimulus	τ₁/ms	τ₂/ms
520 nm laser	446	5546
685 nm laser	187	2195
520 nm and 685 nm laser	477	3349

Table 1. Summary of the fitting results for characteristic relaxation time of the PIDT-BT:P3HT photonic synapse transistor under optical stimulus with different light sources

Figure 8. (a) Transition from short-time memory to long-time memory of the PIDT-BT:P3HT photonic synapse transistor under different light pulses with the change in pulse numbers; (b) ΔG and τdecay as a function of the optical pulse number (pulse duration of 400 ms, and pulse interval of 400 ms)

Figure 9. ΔEPSC response of the PIDT-BT:P3HT photonic synapse transistor stimulated by the combined green and red beams (pulse duration of 400 ms, and pulse interval of 400 ms) at different applied voltages. (a) Response to the change in gate voltages; (b) relationship between the ΔEPSCmax and VG; (c) response to the change in source-drain voltages; (d) relationship between the ΔEPSCmax and VD

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