1,565 research outputs found
Perspective: Organic electronic materials and devices for neuromorphic engineering
Neuromorphic computing and engineering has been the focus of intense research
efforts that have been intensified recently by the mutation of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT). In fact, new computing solutions and new
hardware platforms are expected to emerge to answer to the new needs and
challenges of our societies. In this revolution, lots of candidates
technologies are explored and will require leveraging of the pro and cons. In
this perspective paper belonging to the special issue on neuromorphic
engineering of Journal of Applied Physics, we focus on the current achievements
in the field of organic electronics and the potentialities and specificities of
this research field. We highlight how unique material features available
through organic materials can be used to engineer useful and promising
bioinspired devices and circuits. We also discuss about the opportunities that
organic electronic are offering for future research directions in the
neuromorphic engineering field
Variation of bulk Lorentz factor in AGN jets due to Compton rocket in a complex photon field
Radio-loud active galactic nuclei are among the most powerful objects in the
universe. In these objects, most of the emission comes from relativistic jets
getting their power from the accretion of matter onto supermassive black holes.
However, despite the number of studies, a jet's acceleration to relativistic
speeds is still poorly understood.
It is widely known that jets contain relativistic particles that emit
radiation through several physical processes, one of them being the inverse
Compton scattering of photons coming from external sources. In the case of a
plasma composed of electrons and positrons continuously heated by the
turbulence, inverse Compton scattering can lead to relativistic bulk motions
through the Compton rocket effect. We investigate this process and compute the
resulting bulk Lorentz factor in the complex photon field of an AGN composed of
several external photon sources.
We consider various sources here: the accretion disk, the dusty torus, and
the broad line region. We take their geometry and anisotropy carefully into
account in order to numerically compute the bulk Lorentz factor of the jet at
every altitude.
The study, made for a broad range of parameters, shows interesting and
unexpected behaviors of the bulk Lorentz factor, exhibiting acceleration and
deceleration zones in the jet. We investigate the patterns of the bulk Lorentz
factor along the jet depending on the source sizes and on the observation angle
and we finally show that these patterns can induce variability in the AGN
emission with timescales going from hours to months.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figures, accepted to A&
Filamentary Switching: Synaptic Plasticity through Device Volatility
Replicating the computational functionalities and performances of the brain
remains one of the biggest challenges for the future of information and
communication technologies. Such an ambitious goal requires research efforts
from the architecture level to the basic device level (i.e., investigating the
opportunities offered by emerging nanotechnologies to build such systems).
Nanodevices, or, more precisely, memory or memristive devices, have been
proposed for the implementation of synaptic functions, offering the required
features and integration in a single component. In this paper, we demonstrate
that the basic physics involved in the filamentary switching of electrochemical
metallization cells can reproduce important biological synaptic functions that
are key mechanisms for information processing and storage. The transition from
short- to long-term plasticity has been reported as a direct consequence of
filament growth (i.e., increased conductance) in filamentary memory devices. In
this paper, we show that a more complex filament shape, such as dendritic paths
of variable density and width, can permit the short- and long-term processes to
be controlled independently. Our solid-state device is strongly analogous to
biological synapses, as indicated by the interpretation of the results from the
framework of a phenomenological model developed for biological synapses. We
describe a single memristive element containing a rich panel of features, which
will be of benefit to future neuromorphic hardware systems
Evaluation of a gate capacitance in the sub-aF range for a chemical field-effect transistor with a silicon nanowire channel
An evaluation of the gate capacitance of a field-effect transitor (FET) whose
channel length and width are several ten nanometer, is a key point for sensors
applications. However, experimental and precise evaluation of capacitance in
the aF range or less has been extremely difficult. Here, we report an
extraction of the capacitance down to 0.55 aF for a silicon FET with a
nanoscale wire channel whose width and length are 15 and 50 nm, respectively.
The extraction can be achieved by using a combination of four kinds of
measurements: current characteristics modulated by double gates,
random-telegraph-signal noise induced by trapping and detrapping of a single
electron, dielectric polarization noise, and current characteristics showing
Coulomb blockade at low temperature. The extraction of such a small gate
capacitance enables us to evaluate electron mobility in a nanoscale wire using
a classical model of current characteristics of a FET.Comment: To be published in IEEE Trans. Nanotechno
Relaxation dynamics in covalently bonded organic monolayers on silicon
We study the dynamic electrical response of a silicon-molecular
monolayer-metal junctions and we observe two contributions in the admittance
spectroscopy data. These contributions are related to dipolar relaxation and
molecular organization in the monolayer in one hand, and the presence of
defects at the silicon/molecule interface in the other hand. We propose a small
signal equivalent circuit suitable for the simulations of these molecular
devices in commercial device simulators. Our results concern monolayers of
alkyl chains considered as a model system but can be extended to other
molecular monolayers. These results open door to a better control and
optimization of molecular devices.Comment: 1 pdf file including text, figures and tables. Phys. Rev. B, in pres
Cation Discrimination in Organic Electrochemical Transistors by Dual Frequency Sensing
In this work, we propose a strategy to sense quantitatively and specifically
cations, out of a single organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) device
exposed to an electrolyte. From the systematic study of six different chloride
salts over 12 different concentrations, we demonstrate that the impedance of
the OECT device is governed by either the channel dedoping at low frequency and
the electrolyte gate capacitive coupling at high frequency. Specific cationic
signatures, which originates from the different impact of the cations behavior
on the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)
polymer and their conductivity in water, allow their discrimination at the same
molar concentrations. Dynamic analysis of the device impedance at different
frequencies could allow the identification of specific ionic flows which could
be of a great use in bioelectronics to further interpret complex mechanisms in
biological media such as in the brain.Comment: Full text and supporting informatio
1-octadecene monolayers on Si(111) hydrogen-terminated surfaces: effects of substrate doping
We have studied the electronic properties, in relation to their structural
properties, of monolayers of 1-octadecene attached on a hydrogen-terminated
(111) silicon surface. The molecules are attached using the free-radical
reaction between C=C and Si-H activated by an ultraviolet illumination. We have
compared the structural and electrical properties of monolayers formed on
silicon substrate of different types (n-type and p-type) and different doping
concentrations from low-doped (~1E14 cm-3) to highly doped (~1E19 cm-3) silicon
substrates. We show that the monolayers on n-, p- and p+ silicon are densely
packed and that they act as very good insulating films at a nanometer thickness
with leakage currents as low as ~1E-7 A.cm-2 and high quality
capacitance-voltage characteristics. The monolayers formed on n+-type silicon
are more disordered and therefore exhibit larger leakage current densities
(>1E-4 A.cm-2) when embedded in a silicon/monolayer/metal junction. The
inferior structural and electronic properties obtained with n+-type silicon
pinpoint the important role of surface potential and of the position of the
surface Fermi level during the chemisorption of the organic monolayers.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, to be published J. Appl. Phy
Men Will Be Boys: Regressive Nostalgia in The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides is widely considered a cult-classic novel. However, the text reveals much deeper concepts that at first may miss the eye. The first-person plural narration of the male narrators unveils a regressive nostalgia where they cannot move on from the suicides of the Lisbon sisters, which occurred in the 1970s, twenty years prior. This paper describes the gendered relationship between the present day of the novel, the 1990s, as a male possessiveness over the 1970s as a female past
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