An energy efficient leaky integrate and fire neuron using Ge-source TFET for spiking neural network: simulation analysis

Abstract The basic building block of neural network is a device, which can mimic the neural behavior. The spiking neural network (SNN) is an efficient methodology in terms of power and area. Due to the excess energy consumption and larger area, various spintronic neural devices are unfit for neuron applications. In this article, we have implemented Ge source based Tunnel FET (TFET) for ultralow energy spike generation using TCAD simulator. It is seen that Ge source TFET has signature spiking frequency in THz range versus input voltage curve of an artificial biological neuron. The simulated device deploy the leaky integrate and fire (LIF) technique for generation of neurons. The simulation result highlights that the energy of device is 1.08 aJ/spike, which is several order less than existing neural based FET devices in literature.