Intrinsically flexible organic phototransistors for bioinspired neuromorphic sensory system
Chengyu Wang, Yunqi Liu, Yunlong Guo
Abstract
With the development of the Human-Computer Interaction and Internet of Things applications, bioinspired wearable electronics have gained extensive attention. In view of the low-cost availability, multifunctional bionic simulation and free deformation properties, phototransistor-based intrinsically flexible organic neuromorphic devices and arrays have become a compelling arena for both academic and industrial to realize next-generation intelligent equipment. Recently, rapidly evolving intrinsically flexible materials and sophisticated structural designs have enabled such devices with optical-event-driven operations and multi-task parallel processing. With the multifunctionality to simultaneously acquire, compute, and adapt to a vast majority of external information, the devices put forward the development of next-generation bionic intelligence, artificial vision and neuro-prosthetics. In this review, we first provide a brief overview of recent advances in design strategies for intrinsically flexible materials and devices, including intrinsically flexible materials in organic field-effect phototransistors and organic electrochemical transistors. Then, we analyze the emerging multifunctional intrinsically flexible neuromorphic optoelectronics and their applications. Finally, we discuss the outlook and challenges of intrinsically flexible organic transistor-based neuromorphic optoelectronics from the potential design of intrinsically flexible photoactive materials to the manufacturability of monofunctional devices. The foreseeable evolution towards fully integrated neuromorphic systems is further summarized for the future development of intrinsically flexible neuromorphic optoelectronics.