A research team led by Professor Kim Tae-sung from Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed a groundbreaking artificial optic nerve semiconductor device capable of learning and memory functions using only light.
Sungkyunkwan University announced on Monday that this innovative research has successfully created an optoelectronic synapse device mimicking human nerve cells and synaptic functions. The device achieves this by strategically designing the semiconductor structure while harnessing light signals, opening up new possibilities in next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor technology.
With the rapid advancement of AI and hyper-connected societies, neuromorphic vision systems that can process vast amounts of video data in real-time have become increasingly crucial. Optoelectronic synapses, which use light signals to replicate the human brain’s learning and memory functions, have emerged as a key technology in this field. However, existing materials have struggled with precise structural control and uniform performance across large areas.
In a significant breakthrough, the research team applied a specialized plasma process to van der Waals materials, a cutting-edge ultra-thin semiconductor. This innovative approach allowed them to create different structures simultaneously within a single material, enabling the production of an artificial optic nerve device responsive to light stimuli without the need for complex layering processes.
The study’s findings revealed that the device successfully performs learning and memory functions in response to light stimuli. In AI image recognition tests, it achieved an impressive 96.24% accuracy rate. Moreover, its memory retention performance showed a 34.7% improvement compared to existing structures.
The researchers emphasized that this technology demonstrates the device’s ability to perform learning and memory functions independently while also extending these capabilities to practical AI computations. They highlighted the significance of this approach in overcoming the limitations of traditional three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor layering technology by implementing advanced functions directly from the semiconductor design stage.
Professor Kim remarked that this research represents a significant leap forward in realizing an artificial optic nerve device that learns and remembers through light, designed from the semiconductor structure itself in a single process. It anticipates this technology will find widespread applications in the development of next-generation neuromorphic semiconductors and AI hardware.
The study received support from the Korea Research Foundation’s Leader Research Project, the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy’s semiconductor specialization graduate school project. It was a collaborative effort involving Sungkyunkwan University, the IBS Quantum Nano Science Research Group, and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials. The groundbreaking results were published online on June 3 in the prestigious international journal Advanced Materials in the field of materials science.