Silicon-based Heterostructures for Optoelectronic Synaptic Devices

Abstract

Silicon (Si) is one of the most important materials for very large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits, which has achieved great success in microelectronics. The advanced mature technology and the low cost of Si have attracted interest for exploring its use in optoelectronic synaptic devices. Si-based heterostructures with rationally designed energy-band alignments pave the way to optoelectronic synaptic devices with a series of advantages such as higher optical sensitivity and lower energy consumption. In this work, we introduce the use of Si-based heterostructures to develop optoelectronic synaptic devices that are based on bulk Si, Si nanomembranes (Si NMs) and Si nanocrystals (Si NCs). The working mechanisms and existing practical applications of these devices are discussed in terms of energy-band alignment. The continuous exploration of Si-based heterostructures contributes to the optoelectronic implementation of neuromorphic systems in the future.