An artificial neuromuscular junction for enhanced reflexes and oculomotor dynamics based on a ferroelectric CuInP ₂ S ₆ /GaN HEMT

Abstract

A neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a particularized synapse that activates muscle fibers for macro-motions, requiring more energy than computation. Emulating the NMJ is thus challenging owing to the need for both synaptic plasticity and high driving power to trigger motions. Here, we present an artificial NMJ using CuInP 2 S 6 (CIPS) as a gate dielectric integrated with an AlGaN/GaN-based high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The ferroelectricity of the CIPS is coupled with the two-dimensional electron gas channel in the HEMT, providing a wide programmable current range of 6 picoampere per millimeter to 5 milliampere per millimeter. The large output current window of the CIPS/GaN ferroelectric HEMT (FeHEMT) allows for amplifier-less actuation, emulating the biological NMJ functions of actuation and synaptic plasticity. We also demonstrate the emulation of biological oculomotor dynamics, including in situ object tracking and enhanced stimulus responses, using the fabricated artificial NMJ. We believe that the CIPS/GaN FeHEMT offers a promising pathway for bioinspired robotics and neuromorphic vision.

Neuromorphic circuits based on memristors: endowing robots with a human-like brain

“…Most humanoid robot projects only imitate basic human body movements and do not undertake an in-depth analysis of the complexities of the human system [102] . However, memristor-based neuromorphic circuits in the field of biomimetic control systems have made significant progress.…”