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Retina‐Inspired Carbon Nitride‐Based Photonic Synapses for Selective Detection of UV Light
Author(s) -
Park HeaLim,
Kim Haeju,
Lim Donggyu,
Zhou Huanyu,
Kim YoungHoon,
Lee Yeongjun,
Park Sungjin,
Lee TaeWoo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201906899
Subject(s) - materials science , photonics , optoelectronics , transmittance , ultraviolet , modulation (music) , graphitic carbon nitride , nanotechnology , chemistry , physics , biochemistry , photocatalysis , catalysis , acoustics
Photonic synapses combine sensing and processing in a single device, so they are promising candidates to emulate visual perception of a biological retina. However, photonic synapses with wavelength selectivity, which is a key property for visual perception, have not been developed so far. Herein, organic photonic synapses that selectively detect UV rays and process various optical stimuli are presented. The photonic synapses use carbon nitride (C 3 N 4 ) as an UV‐responsive floating‐gate layer in transistor geometry. C 3 N 4 nanodots dominantly absorb UV light; this trait is the basis of UV selectivity in these photonic synapses. The presented devices consume only 18.06 fJ per synaptic event, which is comparable to the energy consumption of biological synapses. Furthermore, in situ modulation of exposure to UV light is demonstrated by integrating the devices with UV transmittance modulators. These smart systems can be further developed to combine detection and dose‐calculation to determine how and when to decrease UV transmittance for preventive health care.