Recently, prof. Zhang Min and Wang Yarong, the corresponding author and the first author of NEL, published the paper entitled “ultra low power flexible transparent carbon nanotube synthetic transistors for electromagnetic memory” in Nanoscale.
Emulating biological behavior of the human brain with artificial neuromorphic device is essential for the future development of human-machine interactive system, bionic sensing system and intelligent robot. In this paper, the artificial flexible transparent carbon nanotube synaptic transistors (F-CNT-STs) with signal transmission and emotional learning function are realized by adopting the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/SiO2 proton-conducting electrolyte. Synaptic functions of the biological synapses including excitatory and inhibitory behavior are successfully emulated in the F-CNT-STs. Besides, synaptic plasticity such as spike-duration-dependent plasticity, spike-number-dependent plasticity, spike-amplitude-dependent plasticity, paired-pulse facilitation, short-term plasticity, and long-term plasticity have all been systematically characterized. Moreover, the F-CNT-STs also closely imitate the behavior of human brain learning and emotional memory functions. After 1000 bending cycles at the radius of 3 mm, both the transistor characteristics and the synaptic functions can still be implemented correctly, showing outstanding mechanical capability. The realized F-CNT-STs possess low operating voltage, quick response, and ultra-low power consumption, indicating their high potential to work in the low-power biological systems and artificial intelligence systems. The flexible artificial synapse transistor enables its potential to be generally applicable to various flexible wearable biological and intelligent applications.