New Materials for Printed Electronics-Organic Semiconductors and Dielectrics

Brain-inspired devices using microelectronic circuits to mimic the operation of biological neurons will be at the core of future computing systems as they can increase the speed of computation and reduce the power consumption. Biological neural networks are composed of imprecise, heterogeneous computational units, with very dense connectivity, that process spatiotemporal analogue signals at a slow (millisecond) timescale but deliver immense computational power. Current microelectronic fabrication has been optimised to provide billions of homogeneous units that operate at very high speeds but these are not easily compatible with many neuromorphic designs or can be customised in small device runs. While brain-like machines can be force-fit into digital technologies, an alternative approach is to use printed electronic neurons and synapses. These devices can be individually written and provide soft, flexible circuits that are readily customised at little cost.