Coplanar Multigate MoS₂ Electric-Double-Layer Transistors for Neuromorphic Visual Recognition

Spatial coordinate and visual orientation recognition in cortical cells play important roles in the visual system. Herein, spatiotemporally processed visual neurons are mimicked by a facile coplanar multigate two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 electric-double-layer transistor with proton-conducting poly(vinyl alcohol) electrolytes as laterally coupled gate dielectrics. Fundamental neuromorphic behaviors, e.g., excitatory postsynaptic current and paired-pulse facilitation, were successfully mimicked. For the first time, a proof-of-principle artificial visual neural network system for mimicking spatiotemporal coordinate and orientation recognition was experimentally demonstrated in such devices. The experimental results provide a promising opportunity for adding intelligent spatiotemporally-processed functions in emerging brain-like neuromorphic nanoelectronics.