Stretchable Hydrogel Optical Memristor for Photonic Near‐Sensor Neuromorphic Skin

Abstract The development of skin‐like optical memristors is crucial for wearable photonic neuromorphic computing, which enables ultrafast artificial neural networks for edge information processing. However, most existing optical memristors are made of rigid materials, posing challenges in integrating with soft photonic sensors and increasing the risk of device failure under large strains. Additionally, the strain‐perturbed photonic matrix‐vector multiplier (PMVM) may malfunction when stretched. In this paper, a design strategy that utilizes transverse surface colorization (TSC) of hydrogel waveguides is presented to create stretchable optical memristors that can implement a strain‐invariant PMVM. These stretchable optical memristors provide more than 4‐bit distinct, non‐volatile memory states (>10 4 s). By utilizing stretchable optical memristors as bending sensors and strain‐invariant PMVM, an integrated photonic near‐sensor neuromorphic skin capable of real‐time hand gesture recognition (latency < 0.5 ns) is demonstrated with 95.5% accuracy even under 30% strain. This seamless integration of sensing, memory, and processing capabilities in a photonic near‐sensor neuromorphic skin paves the way for future wearable photonics.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-05-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202419937
Citations
5
Primary Topic
Advanced Memory and Neural Computing
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.65

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article

Stretchable Hydrogel Optical Memristor for Photonic Near‐Sensor Neuromorphic Skin

Hegan Chen, Songrui Wei, Shaocong Wang, Jia Dong Huang et al.
5 citations
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Memory and Neural Computing
3.65
article

Stretchable Hydrogel Optical Memristor for Photonic Near‐Sensor Neuromorphic Skin

Hegan Chen, Songrui Wei, Shaocong Wang, Jia Dong Huang, Anran Yuan, Xiao Tang, Bin‐Bin Cui, Dingchen Wang, Shilei Dai, Leiwei He, Zhongrui Wang, Xi Chen, Han Zhang, Shiming Zhang, Dingyao Liu, Kunbin Huang
article en
5 citations

Abstract

Abstract The development of skin‐like optical memristors is crucial for wearable photonic neuromorphic computing, which enables ultrafast artificial neural networks for edge information processing. However, most existing optical memristors are made of rigid materials, posing challenges in integrating with soft photonic sensors and increasing the risk of device failure under large strains. Additionally, the strain‐perturbed photonic matrix‐vector multiplier (PMVM) may malfunction when stretched. In this paper, a design strategy that utilizes transverse surface colorization (TSC) of hydrogel waveguides is presented to create stretchable optical memristors that can implement a strain‐invariant PMVM. These stretchable optical memristors provide more than 4‐bit distinct, non‐volatile memory states (>10 4 s). By utilizing stretchable optical memristors as bending sensors and strain‐invariant PMVM, an integrated photonic near‐sensor neuromorphic skin capable of real‐time hand gesture recognition (latency < 0.5 ns) is demonstrated with 95.5% accuracy even under 30% strain. This seamless integration of sensing, memory, and processing capabilities in a photonic near‐sensor neuromorphic skin paves the way for future wearable photonics.

Advanced Functional MaterialsVol. 35(39)
Macau University of Science and Technology (MO), Tongji University (CN), Shenzhen University (CN), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), University of Hong Kong (HK)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality, Department of Education of Guangdong Province, Innovation and Technology Fund
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Advanced Memory and Neural Computing
3.65
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