Stretchable organic optoelectronic sensorimotor synapse

• Published in: Science advances Vol. 4; no. 11; p. eaat7387
• Main Authors: Lee, Yeongjun, Oh, Jin Young, Xu, Wentao, Kim, Onnuri, Kim, Taeho Roy, Kang, Jiheong, Kim, Yeongin, Son, Donghee, Tok, Jeffery B.-H., Park, Moon Jeong, Bao, Zhenan, Lee, Tae-Woo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 01.11.2018
• Subjects: Engineering; Materials Science; SciAdv r-articles
• ISSN: 2375-2548; 2375-2548
• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat7387

We developed a stretchable organic optoelectronic sensorimotor synapse to mimic a biological optical sensory nervous system. Emulation of human sensory and motor functions becomes a core technology in bioinspired electronics for next-generation electronic prosthetics and neurologically inspired robotics. An electronic synapse functionalized with an artificial sensory receptor and an artificial motor unit can be a fundamental element of bioinspired soft electronics. Here, we report an organic optoelectronic sensorimotor synapse that uses an organic optoelectronic synapse and a neuromuscular system based on a stretchable organic nanowire synaptic transistor (s-ONWST). The voltage pulses of a self-powered photodetector triggered by optical signals drive the s-ONWST, and resultant informative synaptic outputs are used not only for optical wireless communication of human-machine interfaces but also for light-interactive actuation of an artificial muscle actuator in the same way that a biological muscle fiber contracts. Our organic optoelectronic sensorimotor synapse suggests a promising strategy toward developing bioinspired soft electronics, neurologically inspired robotics, and electronic prostheses.