Opto-Ferroelectric Coupling Enhanced α-In₂Se₃ Transistors With Light-Controlled Mode Switchover.

Abstract

Neuromorphic computing is an ideal approach for achieving complex pattern recognition works; however, it is usually incompatible with digital logic processing units, limiting its application scope. Leveraging an opto-ferroelectric coupling enhanced effect, we herein achieve the light-controlled mode switchover between logic processing and neuromorphic computing in a ferroelectric transistor with α-In₂Se₃/h-BN as gate dielectrics and MoS₂ as channel. Under dark conditions, the transistor operates in digital logic mode with a high current on/off ratio of 10⁹, ultra-low subthreshold swing (SS) of 33 mV/dec, and low leakage current of 5.6 × 10^-13 A, which is promising for logic processing applications. The inverter and NOR circuits with high noise margin and low power consumption were further implemented via interconnecting n- and p-type transistors. Under light conditions, the ferroelectric polarization field of α-In₂Se₃ is significantly enhanced, leading to an enlarged hysteresis window (ΔV) and switching the transistor into an optoelectronic synapse mode for neuromorphic computing, which can support image classification with an accuracy of up to 94.43% and a low energy consumption of 0.47 pJ/spike. This work provides an opto-ferroelectric coupling-enhanced transistor that addresses the incompatibility issue between digital logic and neuromorphic computing units, offering a new pathway for next-generation computing devices.