Capacitor-Less Low-Power Neuron Circuit with Multi-Gate Feedback Field Effect Transistor

Abstract

Recently, research on artificial neuron circuits imitating biological systems has been actively studied. The neuron circuit can implement an artificial neural network (ANN) capable of low-power parallel processing by configuring a biological neural network system in hardware. Conventional CMOS analog neuron circuits require many MOSFETs and membrane capacitors. Additionally, it has low energy efficiency in the first inverter stage connected to the capacitor. In this paper, we propose a low-power neuron circuit with a multi-gate feedback field effect transistor (FBFET) that can perform integration without a capacitor to solve the problem of an analog neuron circuit. The multi-gate FBFET has a low off-current due to its low operating voltage and excellent sub-threshold characteristics. We replace the n-channel MOSFET of the inverter with FBFET to suppress leakage current. FBFET devices and neuron circuits were analyzed using TACD and SPICE mixed-mode simulation. As a result, we found that the neuron circuit with multi-gate FBFET has a low subthreshold slope and can completely suppress energy consumption. We also verified the temporal and spatial integration of neuron circuits.

Positive feedback field effect transistor based on vertical NAND flash structure for in-memory computing

“…Due to the positive feedback of this device, 26) it exhibits a steep switching characteristic, with the threshold voltage adjustable by V CG . 24,27,28) Consequently, logic operations can be reconfigured by varying the applied control gate voltage. If an FBFET has two cells, and in its current state the FBFET turns on when a "1" is input to one cell, increasing the threshold voltage (V t ) of that device will turn off.…”

“…Because the threshold voltage (V T ) of the FBFET can be adjusted according to the control gate applied voltage. 24) It also uses Fowler Nordheim (FN) tunneling to perform memory operations. 25) It reads the data value stored in each cell and performs logical operations.…”

Design and performance analysis of Si-SiGe heterostructure based double gate feedback FET

“…The capacity of feedback field-effect transistors (FBFET) to circumvent the subthreshold slope constraint of conventional MOSFETs and to readily offer ultra-low subthreshold swing (∼0 mV/decade) has garnered significant attention in recent time. Utilizing a positive feedback mechanism, the device has shown remarkable performance in applications for memory [17], logic [18], neuromorphic [19], and biosensing [20]. Numerous FBFET-related studies [14][15][16][21][22][23][24][25] have been published in an effort to enhance performance characteristics such as I ON , high I ON /I OFF ratio, and low SS.…”