Artificial synapses based on organic electrochemical transistors with self-healing dielectric layers

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have emerged as one type of promising building block for neuromorphic systems owing to their capability of mimicking the morphology and functions of biological neurons and synapses. Currently, numerous kinds of OECTs have been developed, while self-healing performance has been neglected in most reported OECTs. In this work, the OECTs using self-healing polymer electrolytes as dielectric layers are proposed. Several important synaptic behaviors are simulated in the OECTs by doping the channel layers with ions from the electrolytes. Benefitting from the dynamic hydrogen bonds in the self-healing polymer electrolytes, the OECTs can successfully maintain their electrical performance and the ability of emulating synaptic behaviors after self-healing compared with the initial state. More significantly, the sublinear spatial summation function is demonstrated in the OECTs and their potential in flexible electronics is also validated. These results suggest that our devices are expected to be a vital component in the development of future wearable and bioimplantable neuromorphic systems.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.