Each waking moment our brain processes massive amounts of data to make sense of the outside world. By imitating the way the human brain solves problems, neuromorphic systems have tremendous potential to revolutionize big data analysis and pattern recognition problems for current digital technologies. For artificial systems to be more brain-like, they need to replicate how nerve cells communicate at their terminals, known as synapses.
In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers have described a material called vanadium dioxide that captures the pattern of electrical activity at the synapse. Much like how a nerve cell produces a pulse of oscillating current depending on the history of electrical activity at its synapse, researchers said their material oscillates from metal to insulator at a transition temperature decided by the device’s thermal history.
“We’d like to investigate whether the phenomenon we have observed with vanadium dioxide applies to other host lattices and other guest atoms,” said Dr. Raymundo Arróyave, corresponding author on the study. “This insight can provide us with several tools to further tune the properties of these types of neuromorphic materials for diverse applications.”
This research is funded by the NSF and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
FEATURED RESEARCHERS
Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee
- Professor, Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering
- Davidson Chair in Science
Dr. Patrick Shamberger
- Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering
- Director of Undergraduate Programs,
Materials Science & Engineering
Dr. Raymundo Arróyave
- Professor, Materials Science & Engineering
- Presidential Impact Fellow
- Chancellor EDGES Fellow