Gate‐Tunable Positive and Negative Photoconductance in Near‐Infrared Organic Heterostructures for In‐Sensor Computing

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2024-07, Vol.36 (30), p.e2402903-n/a
• Main Authors: Xu, Yunqi, Xu, Xiaolu, Huang, Ying, Tian, Ye, Cheng, Miao, Deng, Junyang, Xie, Yifan, Zhang, Yanqin, Zhang, Panpan, Wang, Xinhua, Wang, Zhongrui, Li, Mengmeng, Li, Ling, Liu, Ming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Electric potential; Heterostructures; Image processing; in‐sensor computing; Near infrared radiation; near‐infrared photoresponse; organic heterostructure; Organic semiconductors; photogating effect; Photolithography; Power efficiency; Sensors; Thin films; Vision systems; Voltage
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202402903

The rapid growth of sensor data in the artificial intelligence often causes significant reductions in processing speed and power efficiency. Addressing this challenge, in‐sensor computing is introduced as an advanced sensor architecture that simultaneously senses, memorizes, and processes images at the sensor level. However, this is rarely reported for organic semiconductors that possess inherent flexibility and tunable bandgap. Herein, an organic heterostructure that exhibits a robust photoresponse to near‐infrared (NIR) light is introduced, making it ideal for in‐sensor computing applications. This heterostructure, consisting of partially overlapping p‐type and n‐type organic thin films, is compatible with conventional photolithography techniques, allowing for high integration density of up to 520 devices cm−2 with a 5 µm channel length. Importantly, by modulating gate voltage, both positive and negative photoresponses to NIR light (1050 nm) are attained, which establishes a linear correlation between responsivity and gate voltage and consequently enables real‐time matrix multiplication within the sensor. As a result, this organic heterostructure facilitates efficient and precise NIR in‐sensor computing, including image processing and nondestructive reading and classification, achieving a recognition accuracy of 97.06%. This work serves as a foundation for the development of reconfigurable and multifunctional NIR neuromorphic vision systems. An organic heterostructure with a 5 µm channel length is fabricated by a conventional photolithography technique. Intriguingly, by modulating gate voltage, both positive and negative photoresponses to near‐infrared light are attained due to the photogating effect, making it ideal for efficient and precise in‐sensor computing applications including image processing and nondestructive reading and classification.