Brain-inspired highly scalable neuromorphic hardware

Date:
August 5, 2021
Source:
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Summary:
Researchers fabricated a brain-inspired highly scalable
neuromorphic hardware by co-integrating single transistor
neurons and synapses. Using standard silicon complementary
metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the neuromorphic
hardware is expected to reduce chip cost and simplify fabrication
procedures.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== KAIST researchers fabricated a brain-inspired highly scalable
neuromorphic hardware by co-integrating single transistor neurons and
synapses. Using standard silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
(CMOS) technology, the neuromorphic hardware is expected to reduce chip
cost and simplify fabrication procedures.


==========================================================================
The research team led by Yang-Kyu Choi and Sung-Yool Choi produced a
neurons and synapses based on single transistor for highly scalable neuromorphic hardware and showed the ability to recognize text and face
images. This research was featured in Science Advances on August 4.

Neuromorphic hardware has attracted a great deal of attention because
of its artificial intelligence functions, but consuming ultra-low power
of less than 20 watts by mimicking the human brain. To make neuromorphic hardware work, a neuron that generates a spike when integrating a certain signal, and a synapse remembering the connection between two neurons
are necessary, just like the biological brain. However, since neurons
and synapses constructed on digital or analog circuits occupy a large
space, there is a limit in terms of hardware efficiency and costs. Since
the human brain consists of about 1011 neurons and 1014 synapses, it is necessary to improve the hardware cost in order to apply it to mobile
and IoT devices.

To solve the problem, the research team mimicked the behavior
of biological neurons and synapses with a single transistor, and
co-integrated them onto an 8-inch wafer. The manufactured neuromorphic transistors have the same structure as the transistors for memory and
logic that are currently mass-produced. In addition, the neuromorphic transistors proved for the first time that they can be implemented with a 'Janus structure' that functions as both neuron and synapse, just like
coins have heads and tails.

Professor Yang-Kyu Choi said that this work can dramatically reduce the hardware cost by replacing the neurons and synapses that were based on
complex digital and analog circuits with a single transistor. "We have demonstrated that neurons and synapses can be implemented using a single transistor," said Joon-Kyu Han, the first author. "By co-integrating
single transistor neurons and synapses on the same wafer using a standard
CMOS process, the hardware cost of the neuromorphic hardware has been
improved, which will accelerate the commercialization of neuromorphic hardware," Han added.This research was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and IC Design Education Center (IDEC).

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by The_Korea_Advanced_Institute_of_Science_and_Technology_ (KAIST). Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Joon-Kyu Han, Jungyeop Oh, Gyeong-Jun Yun, Dongeun Yoo, Myung-Su
Kim, Ji-
Man Yu, Sung-Yool Choi, Yang-Kyu Choi. Cointegration of
single-transistor neurons and synapses by nanoscale CMOS fabrication
for highly scalable neuromorphic hardware. Science Advances, 2021;
7 (32): eabg8836 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg8836 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210805141154.htm

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