Oscillatory Chemical Networks in Silicon Nanofluidic Chips for Ultra-low-power Computing

Chemical reactions offer unique opportunities for energy-efficient and adaptive computing. We integrate fluidic networks filled with the oscillatory Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction in silicon microchips to investigate the potential of these networks for on-chip chemical computation. Using nanofluidic confinement and networks of thousands of microreactors (5–30 μm) connected by nanochannels, we demonstrate stable oscillations under 300 nm vertical confinement and estimate an intrinsic chemical energy expenditure of ≈17 fJ per cycle at nanoscale reaction volumes. Reaction–diffusion waves propagate signals with diffusion lengths of ≈40 μm and speeds up to 123 μm s–1, while light-sensitive modulation provides dynamic control over the reaction dynamics, offering a route toward programmable architectures. These features support large fan-out, weighted connections, and reconfigurable pathways, laying the foundation for chemical logic, neuromorphic networks, and adaptive systems. Our results position oscillatory chemistry as a promising route toward ultra-low-power computing and bio-inspired architectures.