An analogue sum and threshold neuron based on the quantum tunnelling amplification of electrical pulses

TY - JOUR

T1 - An analogue sum and threshold neuron based on the quantum tunnelling amplification of electrical pulses

AU - Samardak, A.

AU - Nogaret, A.

AU - Taylor, S.

AU - Austin, J.

AU - Farrer, I.

AU - Ritchie, D. A.

PY - 2008/8/7

Y1 - 2008/8/7

N2 - We demonstrate a spatial neuron that sums and regenerates electrical pulses in real time. The neuron uses a monolithic web of micro-transmission lines to propagate electrical pulses to a 'soma' where they are regenerated via quantum tunnelling amplification. The gain of the neuron follows a sigmoid curve similar to the one that controls the firing of real neurons. We report on the dependence of the regeneration threshold on bias parameters and obtain a good fit of the measured threshold by computing the stability diagram of the soma. The neuron is shown to regenerate coincident pulses with a timing sensitivity of 10 mu s compared to milliseconds for real neurons. The present design demonstrates that the physics underpinning analogue computation in biological neurons has an equivalent in modern semiconductor structures.

AB - We demonstrate a spatial neuron that sums and regenerates electrical pulses in real time. The neuron uses a monolithic web of micro-transmission lines to propagate electrical pulses to a 'soma' where they are regenerated via quantum tunnelling amplification. The gain of the neuron follows a sigmoid curve similar to the one that controls the firing of real neurons. We report on the dependence of the regeneration threshold on bias parameters and obtain a good fit of the measured threshold by computing the stability diagram of the soma. The neuron is shown to regenerate coincident pulses with a timing sensitivity of 10 mu s compared to milliseconds for real neurons. The present design demonstrates that the physics underpinning analogue computation in biological neurons has an equivalent in modern semiconductor structures.

KW - SYNCHRONIZATION

KW - COMPUTATION

KW - BEHAVIOR

KW - SPIKING

KW - DIODES

KW - MODEL

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=49349111156&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/1367-2630/10/8/083010

DO - 10.1088/1367-2630/10/8/083010

M3 - Article

SN - 1367-2630

VL - 10

SP - -

JO - New Journal of Physics

JF - New Journal of Physics

M1 - 083010

ER -