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Synaptic devices that mimic biological neurons have attracted much attention for brain-inspired neuromorphic computing. Especially, synaptic thin-film transistors (TFTs) have emerged with simultaneous signal processing and information storage advantages. However, the analysis of excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) relies on an empirical model such as a serial RC circuit, which limits a systematic and in-depth study of synaptic devices in terms of material and electrical properties. Herein, the single-pulse-driven synaptic EPSC (SPSE) model, including capacitive effect and information of the synaptic window, is analytically proposed. The SPSE model can simulate EPSC of synaptic devices at given TFT-operating conditions. EPSC with the SPSE model can be characterized with quantified parameters for the capacitive effects and the synaptic windows, which also depend on the electrical condition applied to TFTs. Various kinds of synaptic-TFTs with different gate insulators (e.g., SiO2 and ion-gel) are used to confirm the performance of the SPSE model. For example, the SPSE model can capture the long-term robustness of ion-gel-based TFTs with specific quantified parameters. In addition, the SPSE model enables the estimation of energy consumption, which can potentially be leveraged to compare the energy cost of EPSC fairly. The SPSE model can provide a guideline to understand the physical properties of synaptic TFTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li+ electrolyte-gated transistors (EGTs) have attracted significant attention as artificial synapses because of the fast response of Li+ ion, low operating voltage, and applicability to flexible electronics. Due to the inherent nature of Li+ ion, Li+ EGTs show, however, limitations, such as poor long-term synaptic plasticity and nonlinear/nonsymmetric conductance update, which hinder the practical applications of artificial synapses. Herein, Li+ EGTs integrated with poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) ferroelectric polymer as a channel–electrolyte interlayer are presented. Owing to the polarized domains of PVDF-TrFE, the transport of Li+ ions at the channel–electrolyte interface is accelerated, and Li+ ions effectively penetrate the channel. Moreover, the self-diffusion of Li+ ions from the channel to the electrolyte is suppressed by the downward polarized domains. Li+ EGTs, therefore, successfully demonstrate synaptic characteristics, including excitatory postsynaptic current, short-/long-term synaptic plasticity, and paired-pulse facilitation. Also, conductance update in Li+ EGTs shows a dynamic range (Gmax/Gmin) of 92.42, high linearity, and distinct stability over 100 cycles. Based on their synaptic characteristics, inference simulations using a convolution neural network for the CIFAR-10 dataset imply that Li+ EGTs are suitable as artificial synapses with an inference accuracy of 89.13%. The new methodological approach addressing modulation of ion dynamics at the interface is introduced for developing practical synaptic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrolyte‐gated transistors (EGTs) have been extensively studied as a next‐generation neuromorphic device mimicking the biological ionic flux in synapses. However, its long‐term plasticity characteristic lasts only for few seconds because of the rapid self‐discharge of electrical double layer. Here, ultraviolet ozone (UVO) treated water‐in‐bisalt (WiBS)/polymer electrolyte‐gated synaptic transistor (WEST) which excellently implements multiple synaptic functions is proposed. Ultraviolet (UV) light and reactive oxygen radicals generated during UVO treatment form trap sites on the surface of active layer, causing lithium cations in the WiBS/polymer electrolyte to be captured at the electrolyte/active layer interface. The UVO treated WEST shows enhanced nonvolatile memory performance for 10 000 s, up to 1186 times longer than that of the untreated WEST. Also, near‐ideal weight update over 10 000 cycle tests with 0.32 and −0.55 nonlinearities of long‐term potentiation and depression is acquired with a ten times improved symmetricity. These results confirm that the surface engineering is a key technique for sophisticated ion transport, and demonstrate various applicability of EGTs as a neuromorphic device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacial instability between Li‐metal anode (LMA) and inorganic solid‐state electrolyte (SSE) is a critical issue in all‐solid‐state Li‐metal batteries (ASSLBs). Previous studies have focused on interface modification methodology to achieve long‐term cycling stability in ASSLBs. However, strategy establishment without an in‐depth understanding of the LMA–SSE interface is limited to a phenomenological solution. Also, the fact that rechargeable batteries are operated by behavior of charges inside electric field is frequently overlooked. Here, it is demonstrated for the first time that interface modeling based on energy band theory does effectively overcome the intrinsic vulnerability of SSE to LMA. The interfacial deterioration, due to undesirable electron transport from LMA to the SSE surface, is precluded by a titanium compound self‐induced interlayer (TSI), which forms an interfacial energy barrier. The Li symmetric cell with a TSI successfully maintains its constant overpotential over 1000 cycles and the significantly reduced impedance, whereas the cell having no interface modification exhibits erratic voltage profiles and is easily failed by repetitive charge–discharge process. This newly introduced approach is an informative tool to substantially reinforce the fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena in all‐solid‐state batteries. Furthermore, rigorous stability requirements of automotive applications are expected to be fulfilled by the innovative interface modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An all-inorganic heterojunction phototransistor using a highly stable perovskite (CsPbIxBr3−x) and amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O (IGZO) double-layer is introduced to enhance the sensing performance of optoelectronic devices and to expand their detecting range from the ultraviolet to the visible light region. Despite the high-performance photoelectric properties of CsPbI3 perovskites retaining the α-phase, actual applications of the perovskite film are considerably hindered by the phase instability under ambient conditions. Here, in order to improve the long-term stability of the α-phase perovskite, we propose a multiple anion strategy in the perovskite structure. The developed CsPbIxBr3−x film is applied with bi-anion IxBr3−x instead of I3 by adding CsBr and PbBr2 in the CsPbI3 precursor solution. Using the optimized CsPbIxBr3−x film with 12 wt% of the additives CsBr and PbBr2 in the CsPbI3 precursor solution, we demonstrate an all-inorganic visible light detector based on a heterojunction phototransistor with a p++-Si/SiO2/IGZO/CsPbIxBr3−x/Ti–Al–Ti structure, in which IGZO and CsPbIxBr3−x are used as a charge transport layer and a light absorption layer, respectively. The phototransistor exhibits a responsivity of 26.48 A W−1, a detectivity of 8.42 × 1014 Jones, and an external quantum efficiency of 51% under visible light illumination (635 nm). In particular, it shows excellent stability over 1 month under ambient conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) have attracted great attention due to their unique properties. To modulate the electronic properties and structure of TMDs, it is crucial to precisely control chalcogenide vacancies and several methods have already been suggested. However, they have several limitations such as plasma damage by ion bombardment. Herein, we introduced a novel solvent-assisted vacancy engineering (SAVE) method to modulate sulfur vacancies in MoS 2 . Considering polarity and the Hansen solubility parameter (HSP), three solvents were selected. Sulfur vacancies can be modulated by immersing MoS 2 in each solvent, supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy analyses. The SAVE method can further expand its application in memory devices representing memristive performance and synaptic behaviors. We represented the charge transport mechanism of sulfur vacancy migration in MoS 2 . The non-destructive, scalable, and novel SAVE method controlling sulfur vacancies is expected to be a guideline for constructing a vacancy engineering system of TMDs.

The exact direction, of the surface energy characterized functional group of self-assembled monolayer (SAM), is proposed for achieving the enhanced electrical stability of indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) semiconductor thin film transistor (TFT). The SAM treatment, particularly at the SAM functional group having lower surface energy, makes oxygen molecules difficult to be adsorbed onto IGZO. And such an effect much improves positive bias stability (PBS) and clockwise hysteresis stability to the same tendency. For NH2 and CF3 functional group SAMs with surface energies of 49.4 mJ/m2 and 23.5 mJ/m2, respectively, the IGZO TFT PBS was improved from 2.47 V to 0.32 V after the SAM treatment and the IGZO TFT clockwise hysteresis was also enhanced from 0.23 V to 0.11 V without any deterioration of TFT characteristics. Employing lower surface energy functional group to the SAM, of same head group and body group, does passivate and protect the IGZO backchannel region from oxygen molecules in the atmosphere. Consequently, the enhanced electrical stability of IGZO TFT can be achieved by the simple and economic SAM treatment., (© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.)