Two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide artificial synapse with high sensitivity

This paper reports the fabrication of an artificial synapse (AS) based on two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) film. The AS emulates important synaptic functions such as paired-pulse facilitation, spike-rate dependent plasticity, spike-duration dependent plasticity and spike-number dependent plasticity. The spike voltage can mediate ion migration in the ion gel to regulate the conductance of MoS₂ channel, thereby realizing the emulation of synaptic plasticity. More importantly, the AS stably exhibits high sensitivity in response to spike stimuli (100 mV) and low-energy consumption (∼33.5 fJ per spike). In addition, the device emulates some synaptic functions and realizes the synaptic expression of Morse code. The development of this device represents an important step toward constructing high-performance and multifunctional neuromorphic system.