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Tag Archives: memristor
Synaptic transistor better then memristor when it comes to brainlike learning for computers
An April 30, 2021 news item on Nanowerk announced research from a joint team at Northwestern University (located in Chicago, Illinois, US) and University of Hong Kong of researchers in the field of neuromorphic (brainlike) computing,
Researchers have developed a brain-like computing device that is capable of learning by association.
Similar to how famed physiologist Ivan Pavlov conditioned dogs to associate a bell with food, researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Hong Kong successfully conditioned their circuit to associate light with pressure.
The device's secret lies within its novel organic, electrochemical "synaptic transistors," which simultaneously process and store information just like the human brain. The researchers demonstrated that the transistor can mimic the short-term and long-term plasticity of synapses in the human brain, building on memories to learn over time.
With its brain-like ability, the novel transistor and circuit could potentially overcome the limitations of traditional computing, including their energy-sapping hardware and limited ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time. The brain-like device also has higher fault tolerance, continuing to operate smoothly even when some components fail.
"Although the modern computer is outstanding, the human brain can easily outperform it in some complex and unstructured tasks, such as pattern recognition, motor control and multisensory integration," said Northwestern's Jonathan Rivnay, a senior author of the study. "This is thanks to the plasticity of the synapse, which is the basic building block of the brain's computational power. These synapses enable the brain to work in a highly parallel, fault tolerant and energy-efficient manner. In our work, we demonstrate an organic, plastic transistor that mimics key functions of a biological synapse."
Rivnay is an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering. He co-led the study with Paddy Chan, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Hong Kong. Xudong Ji, a postdoctoral researcher in Rivnay's group, is the paper's first author.
Caption: By connecting single synaptic transistors into a neuromorphic circuit, researchers demonstrated that their device could simulate associative learning. Credit: Northwestern University
An April 30, 2021 Northwestern University news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, includes a good explanation about brainlike computing and information about how synaptic transistors work along with some suggestions for future applications,
Conventional, digital computing systems have separate processing and storage units, causing data-intensive tasks to consume large amounts of energy. Inspired by the combined computing and storage process in the human brain, researchers, in recent years, have sought to develop computers that operate more like the human brain, with arrays of devices that function like a network of neurons.
"The way our current computer systems work is that memory and logic are physically separated," Ji said. "You perform computation and send that information to a memory unit. Then every time you want to retrieve that information, you have to recall it. If we can bring those two separate functions together, we can save space and save on energy costs."
Currently, the memory resistor, or "memristor," is the most well-developed technology that can perform combined processing and memory function, but memristors suffer from energy-costly switching and less biocompatibility. These drawbacks led researchers to the synaptic transistor — especially the organic electrochemical synaptic transistor, which operates with low voltages, continuously tunable memory and high compatibility for biological applications. Still, challenges exist.
"Even high-performing organic electrochemical synaptic transistors require the write operation to be decoupled from the read operation," Rivnay said. "So if you want to retain memory, you have to disconnect it from the write process, which can further complicate integration into circuits or systems."
How the synaptic transistor works
To overcome these challenges, the Northwestern and University of Hong Kong team optimized a conductive, plastic material within the organic, electrochemical transistor that can trap ions. In the brain, a synapse is a structure through which a neuron can transmit signals to another neuron, using small molecules called neurotransmitters. In the synaptic transistor, ions behave similarly to neurotransmitters, sending signals between terminals to form an artificial synapse. By retaining stored data from trapped ions, the transistor remembers previous activities, developing long-term plasticity.
The researchers demonstrated their device's synaptic behavior by connecting single synaptic transistors into a neuromorphic circuit to simulate associative learning. They integrated pressure and light sensors into the circuit and trained the circuit to associate the two unrelated physical inputs (pressure and light) with one another.
Perhaps the most famous example of associative learning is Pavlov's dog, which naturally drooled when it encountered food. After conditioning the dog to associate a bell ring with food, the dog also began drooling when it heard the sound of a bell. For the neuromorphic circuit, the researchers activated a voltage by applying pressure with a finger press. To condition the circuit to associate light with pressure, the researchers first applied pulsed light from an LED lightbulb and then immediately applied pressure. In this scenario, the pressure is the food and the light is the bell. The device's corresponding sensors detected both inputs.
After one training cycle, the circuit made an initial connection between light and pressure. After five training cycles, the circuit significantly associated light with pressure. Light, alone, was able to trigger a signal, or "unconditioned response."
Because the synaptic circuit is made of soft polymers, like a plastic, it can be readily fabricated on flexible sheets and easily integrated into soft, wearable electronics, smart robotics and implantable devices that directly interface with living tissue and even the brain [emphasis mine].
"While our application is a proof of concept, our proposed circuit can be further extended to include more sensory inputs and integrated with other electronics to enable on-site, low-power computation," Rivnay said. "Because it is compatible with biological environments, the device can directly interface with living tissue, which is critical for next-generation bioelectronics."
Mimicking associative learning using an ion-trapping non-volatile synaptic organic electrochemical transistor by Xudong Ji, Bryan D. Paulsen, Gary K. K. Chik, Ruiheng Wu, Yuyang Yin, Paddy K. L. Chan & Jonathan Rivnay . Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 2480 (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22680-5 Published: 30 April 2021
This paper is open access.
"… devices that directly interface with living tissue and even the brain," would I be the only one thinking about cyborgs?
This entry was posted in electronics, human enhancement, nanotechnology and tagged bioelectronics, brainlike computing, Bryan D. Paulsen, Gary K. K. Chik, Jonathan Rivnay, memristor, Mimicking associative learning using an ion-trapping non-volatile synaptic organic electrochemical transistor, neuromorphic circuit, neuromorphic computing, neurotransmitters, Northwestern University, organic electrochemical synaptic transistor, Paddy Chan, Paddy K. L. Chan, Ruiheng Wu, synaptic transistors, University of Hong Kong, Xudong Ji, Yuyang Yin on August 9, 2021 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Memristor artificial neural network learning based on phase-change memory (PCM)
Caption: Professor Hongsik Jeong and his research team in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST. Credit: UNIST
I'm pretty sure that Professor Hongsik Jeong is the one on the right. He seems more relaxed, like he's accustomed to posing for pictures highlighting his work.
Now on to the latest memristor news, which features the number 8.
For anyone unfamiliar with the term memristor, it's a device (of sorts) which scientists, involved in neuromorphic computing (computers that operate like human brains), are researching as they attempt to replicate brainlike processes for computers.
From a January 22, 2021 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) press release (also on EurekAlert but published March 15, 2021),
An international team of researchers, affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a novel technology that could improve the learning ability of artificial neural networks (ANNs).
Professor Hongsik Jeong and his research team in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST, in collaboration with researchers from Tsinghua University in China, proposed a new learning method to improve the learning ability of ANN chips by challenging its instability.
Artificial neural network chips are capable of mimicking the structural, functional and biological features of human neural networks, and thus have been considered the technology of the future. In this study, the research team demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed learning method by building phase change memory (PCM) memristor arrays that operate like ANNs. This learning method is also advantageous in that its learning ability can be improved without additional power consumption, since PCM undergoes a spontaneous resistance increase due to the structural relaxation after amorphization.
ANNs, like human brains, use less energy even when performing computation and memory tasks, simultaneously. However, the artificial neural network chip in which a large number of physical devices are integrated has a disadvantage that there is an error. The existing artificial neural network learning method assumes a perfect artificial neural network chip with no errors, so the learning ability of the artificial neural network is poor.
The research team developed a memristor artificial neural network learning method based on a phase-change memory, conceiving that the real human brain does not require near-perfect motion. This learning method reflects the "resistance drift" (increased electrical resistance) of the phase change material in the memory semiconductor in learning. During the learning process, since the information update pattern is recorded in the form of increasing electrical resistance in the memristor, which serves as a synapse, the synapse additionally learns the association between the pattern it changes and the data it is learning.
The research team showed that the learning method developed through an experiment to classify handwriting composed of numbers 0-9 has an effect of improving learning ability by about 3%. In particular, the accuracy of the number 8, which is difficult to classify handwriting, has improved significantly. [emphasis mine] The learning ability improved thanks to the synaptic update pattern that changes differently according to the difficulty of handwriting classification.
Researchers expect that their findings are expected to promote the learning algorithms with the intrinsic properties of memristor devices, opening a new direction for development of neuromorphic computing chips.
Spontaneous sparse learning for PCM-based memristor neural networks by Dong-Hyeok Lim, Shuang Wu, Rong Zhao, Jung-Hoon Lee, Hongsik Jeong & Luping Shi. Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 319 (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20519-z Published 12 January 2021
This entry was posted in electronics, nanotechnology and tagged Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), brainlike computing, Dong-Hyeok Lim, Hongsik Jeong, Jung-Hoon Lee, Luping Shi, memristor, neuromorphic computing, neuromorphic computing chips, phase change memory (PCM), Rong Zhao, Shuang Wu, Spontaneous sparse learning for PCM-based memristor neural networks, Tsinghua University, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) on May 26, 2021 by Maryse de la Giroday.
A tangle of silver nanowires for brain-like action
I've been meaning to get to this news item from late 2019 as it features work from a team that I've been following for a number of years now. First mentioned here in an October 17, 2011 posting, James Gimzewski has been working with researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and researchers at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) on neuromorphic computing.
This particular research had a protracted rollout with the paper being published in October 2019 and the last news item about it being published in mid-December 2019.
A December 17, 2029 news item on Nanowerk was the first to alert me to this new work (Note: A link has been removed),
UCLA scientists James Gimzewski and Adam Stieg are part of an international research team that has taken a significant stride toward the goal of creating thinking machines.
Led by researchers at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science, the team created an experimental device that exhibited characteristics analogous to certain behaviors of the brain — learning, memorization, forgetting, wakefulness and sleep. The paper, published in Scientific Reports ("Emergent dynamics of neuromorphic nanowire networks"), describes a network in a state of continuous flux.
A December 16, 2019 UCLA news release, which originated the news item, offers more detail (Note: A link has been removed),
"This is a system between order and chaos, on the edge of chaos," said Gimzewski, a UCLA distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry, a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and a co-author of the study. "The way that the device constantly evolves and shifts mimics the human brain. It can come up with different types of behavior patterns that don't repeat themselves."
The research is one early step along a path that could eventually lead to computers that physically and functionally resemble the brain — machines that may be capable of solving problems that contemporary computers struggle with, and that may require much less power than today's computers do.
The device the researchers studied is made of a tangle of silver nanowires — with an average diameter of just 360 nanometers. (A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.) The nanowires were coated in an insulating polymer about 1 nanometer thick. Overall, the device itself measured about 10 square millimeters — so small that it would take 25 of them to cover a dime.
Allowed to randomly self-assemble on a silicon wafer, the nanowires formed highly interconnected structures that are remarkably similar to those that form the neocortex, the part of the brain involved with higher functions such as language, perception and cognition.
One trait that differentiates the nanowire network from conventional electronic circuits is that electrons flowing through them cause the physical configuration of the network to change. In the study, electrical current caused silver atoms to migrate from within the polymer coating and form connections where two nanowires overlap. The system had about 10 million of these junctions, which are analogous to the synapses where brain cells connect and communicate.
The researchers attached two electrodes to the brain-like mesh to profile how the network performed. They observed "emergent behavior," meaning that the network displayed characteristics as a whole that could not be attributed to the individual parts that make it up. This is another trait that makes the network resemble the brain and sets it apart from conventional computers.
After current flowed through the network, the connections between nanowires persisted for as much as one minute in some cases, which resembled the process of learning and memorization in the brain. Other times, the connections shut down abruptly after the charge ended, mimicking the brain's process of forgetting.
In other experiments, the research team found that with less power flowing in, the device exhibited behavior that corresponds to what neuroscientists see when they use functional MRI scanning to take images of the brain of a sleeping person. With more power, the nanowire network's behavior corresponded to that of the wakeful brain.
The paper is the latest in a series of publications examining nanowire networks as a brain-inspired system, an area of research that Gimzewski helped pioneer along with Stieg, a UCLA research scientist and an associate director of CNSI.
"Our approach may be useful for generating new types of hardware that are both energy-efficient and capable of processing complex datasets that challenge the limits of modern computers," said Stieg, a co-author of the study.
The borderline-chaotic activity of the nanowire network resembles not only signaling within the brain but also other natural systems such as weather patterns. That could mean that, with further development, future versions of the device could help model such complex systems.
In other experiments, Gimzewski and Stieg already have coaxed a silver nanowire device to successfully predict statistical trends in Los Angeles traffic patterns based on previous years' traffic data.
Because of their similarities to the inner workings of the brain, future devices based on nanowire technology could also demonstrate energy efficiency like the brain's own processing. The human brain operates on power roughly equivalent to what's used by a 20-watt incandescent bulb. By contrast, computer servers where work-intensive tasks take place — from training for machine learning to executing internet searches — can use the equivalent of many households' worth of energy, with the attendant carbon footprint.
"In our studies, we have a broader mission than just reprogramming existing computers," Gimzewski said. "Our vision is a system that will eventually be able to handle tasks that are closer to the way the human being operates."
The study's first author, Adrian Diaz-Alvarez, is from the International Center for Material Nanoarchitectonics at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science. Co-authors include Tomonobu Nakayama and Rintaro Higuchi, also of NIMS; and Zdenka Kuncic at the University of Sydney in Australia.
Caption: (a) Micrograph of the neuromorphic network fabricated by this research team. The network contains of numerous junctions between nanowires, which operate as synaptic elements. When voltage is applied to the network (between the green probes), current pathways (orange) are formed in the network. (b) A Human brain and one of its neuronal networks. The brain is known to have a complex network structure and to operate by means of electrical signal propagation across the network. Credit: NIMS
A November 11, 2019 National Institute for Materials Science (Japan) press release (also on EurekAlert but dated December 25, 2019) first announced the news,
An international joint research team led by NIMS succeeded in fabricating a neuromorphic network composed of numerous metallic nanowires. Using this network, the team was able to generate electrical characteristics similar to those associated with higher order brain functions unique to humans, such as memorization, learning, forgetting, becoming alert and returning to calm. The team then clarified the mechanisms that induced these electrical characteristics.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques has been rapidly advancing in recent years and has begun impacting our lives in various ways. Although AI processes information in a manner similar to the human brain, the mechanisms by which human brains operate are still largely unknown. Fundamental brain components, such as neurons and the junctions between them (synapses), have been studied in detail. However, many questions concerning the brain as a collective whole need to be answered. For example, we still do not fully understand how the brain performs such functions as memorization, learning and forgetting, and how the brain becomes alert and returns to calm. In addition, live brains are difficult to manipulate in experimental research. For these reasons, the brain remains a "mysterious organ." A different approach to brain research?in which materials and systems capable of performing brain-like functions are created and their mechanisms are investigated?may be effective in identifying new applications of brain-like information processing and advancing brain science.
The joint research team recently built a complex brain-like network by integrating numerous silver (Ag) nanowires coated with a polymer (PVP) insulating layer approximately 1 nanometer in thickness. A junction between two nanowires forms a variable resistive element (i.e., a synaptic element) that behaves like a neuronal synapse. This nanowire network, which contains a large number of intricately interacting synaptic elements, forms a "neuromorphic network". When a voltage was applied to the neuromorphic network, it appeared to "struggle" to find optimal current pathways (i.e., the most electrically efficient pathways). The research team measured the processes of current pathway formation, retention and deactivation while electric current was flowing through the network and found that these processes always fluctuate as they progress, similar to the human brain's memorization, learning, and forgetting processes. The observed temporal fluctuations also resemble the processes by which the brain becomes alert or returns to calm. Brain-like functions simulated by the neuromorphic network were found to occur as the huge number of synaptic elements in the network collectively work to optimize current transport, in the other words, as a result of self-organized and emerging dynamic processes..
The research team is currently developing a brain-like memory device using the neuromorphic network material. The team intends to design the memory device to operate using fundamentally different principles than those used in current computers. For example, while computers are currently designed to spend as much time and electricity as necessary in pursuit of absolutely optimum solutions, the new memory device is intended to make a quick decision within particular limits even though the solution generated may not be absolutely optimum. The team also hopes that this research will facilitate understanding of the brain's information processing mechanisms.
This project was carried out by an international joint research team led by Tomonobu Nakayama (Deputy Director, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), NIMS), Adrian Diaz Alvarez (Postdoctoral Researcher, WPI-MANA, NIMS), Zdenka Kuncic (Professor, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Australia) and James K. Gimzewski (Professor, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California Los Angeles, USA).
Here at last is a link to and a citation for the paper,
Emergent dynamics of neuromorphic nanowire networks by Adrian Diaz-Alvarez, Rintaro Higuchi, Paula Sanz-Leon, Ido Marcus, Yoshitaka Shingaya, Adam Z. Stieg, James K. Gimzewski, Zdenka Kuncic & Tomonobu Nakayama. Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 14920 (2019) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51330-6 Published: 17 October 2019
This entry was posted in electronics, nanotechnology, robots and tagged Adam Stieg, Adam Z. Stieg, Adrian Diaz-Alvarez, artificial brain, artificial intelligence (AI), artificial synapse, Australia, brainlike computing, Emergent dynamics of neuromorphic nanowire networks, human brain, Ido Marcus, James Gimzewski, James K. Gimzewski, Japan, memristor, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), neuromorphic computing, neuromorphic network, Paula Sanz-Leon, Rintaro Higuchi, silver (Ag) nanowires, silver nanowires, Tomonobu Nakayama, UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Sydney, US, Yoshitaka Shingaya, Zdenka Kuncic on June 17, 2020 by Maryse de la Giroday.
A lipid-based memcapacitor,for neuromorphic computing
Caption: Researchers at ORNL's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences demonstrated the first example of capacitance in a lipid-based biomimetic membrane, opening nondigital routes to advanced, brain-like computation. Credit: Michelle Lehman/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy
The last time I wrote about memcapacitors (June 30, 2014 posting: Memristors, memcapacitors, and meminductors for faster computers), the ideas were largely theoretical; I believe this work is the first research I've seen on the topic. From an October 17, 2019 news item on ScienceDaily,
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory ]ORNL], the University of Tennessee and Texas A&M University demonstrated bio-inspired devices that accelerate routes to neuromorphic, or brain-like, computing.
Results published in Nature Communications report the first example of a lipid-based "memcapacitor," a charge storage component with memory that processes information much like synapses do in the brain. Their discovery could support the emergence of computing networks modeled on biology for a sensory approach to machine learning.
An October 16, 2019 ORNL news release (also on EurekAlert but published Oct. 17, 2019), which originated the news item, provides more detail about the work,
"Our goal is to develop materials and computing elements that work like biological synapses and neurons—with vast interconnectivity and flexibility—to enable autonomous systems that operate differently than current computing devices and offer new functionality and learning capabilities," said Joseph Najem, a recent postdoctoral researcher at ORNL's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, and current assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State.
The novel approach uses soft materials to mimic biomembranes and simulate the way nerve cells communicate with one another.
The team designed an artificial cell membrane, formed at the interface of two lipid-coated water droplets in oil, to explore the material's dynamic, electrophysiological properties. At applied voltages, charges build up on both sides of the membrane as stored energy, analogous to the way capacitors work in traditional electric circuits.
But unlike regular capacitors, the memcapacitor can "remember" a previously applied voltage and—literally—shape how information is processed. The synthetic membranes change surface area and thickness depending on electrical activity. These shapeshifting membranes could be tuned as adaptive filters for specific biophysical and biochemical signals.
"The novel functionality opens avenues for nondigital signal processing and machine learning modeled on nature," said ORNL's Pat Collier, a CNMS staff research scientist.
A distinct feature of all digital computers is the separation of processing and memory. Information is transferred back and forth from the hard drive and the central processor, creating an inherent bottleneck in the architecture no matter how small or fast the hardware can be.
Neuromorphic computing, modeled on the nervous system, employs architectures that are fundamentally different in that memory and signal processing are co-located in memory elements—memristors, memcapacitors and meminductors.
These "memelements" make up the synaptic hardware of systems that mimic natural information processing, learning and memory.
Systems designed with memelements offer advantages in scalability and low power consumption, but the real goal is to carve out an alternative path to artificial intelligence, said Collier.
Tapping into biology could enable new computing possibilities, especially in the area of "edge computing," such as wearable and embedded technologies that are not connected to a cloud but instead make on-the-fly decisions based on sensory input and past experience.
Biological sensing has evolved over billions of years into a highly sensitive system with receptors in cell membranes that are able to pick out a single molecule of a specific odor or taste. "This is not something we can match digitally," Collier said.
Digital computation is built around digital information, the binary language of ones and zeros coursing through electronic circuits. It can emulate the human brain, but its solid-state components do not compute sensory data the way a brain does.
"The brain computes sensory information pushed through synapses in a neural network that is reconfigurable and shaped by learning," said Collier. "Incorporating biology—using biomembranes that sense bioelectrochemical information—is key to developing the functionality of neuromorphic computing."
While numerous solid-state versions of memelements have been demonstrated, the team's biomimetic elements represent new opportunities for potential "spiking" neural networks that can compute natural data in natural ways.
Spiking neural networks are intended to simulate the way neurons spike with electrical potential and, if the signal is strong enough, pass it on to their neighbors through synapses, carving out learning pathways that are pruned over time for efficiency.
A bio-inspired version with analog data processing is a distant aim. Current early-stage research focuses on developing the components of bio-circuitry.
"We started with the basics, a memristor that can weigh information via conductance to determine if a spike is strong enough to be broadcast through a network of synapses connecting neurons," said Collier. "Our memcapacitor goes further in that it can actually store energy as an electric charge in the membrane, enabling the complex 'integrate and fire' activity of neurons needed to achieve dense networks capable of brain-like computation."
The team's next steps are to explore new biomaterials and study simple networks to achieve more complex brain-like functionalities with memelements.
Dynamical nonlinear memory capacitance in biomimetic membranes by Joseph S. Najem, Md Sakib Hasan, R. Stanley Williams, Ryan J. Weiss, Garrett S. Rose, Graham J. Taylor, Stephen A. Sarles & C. Patrick Collier. Nature Communications volume 10, Article number: 3239 (2019) DOI: DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11223-8 Published July 19, 2019
One final comment, you might recognize one of the authors (R. Stanley Williams) who in 2008 helped launch 'memristor' research.
This entry was posted in biomimcry, electronics, nanotechnology and tagged artificial neurons, artificial synapses, biomembranes, brain-like computing, C. Patrick Collier, capacitor, Dynamical nonlinear memory capacitance in biomimetic membranes, edge computing, Garrett S. Rose, Graham J. Taylor, Joseph Najem, Joseph S. Najem, lipid-based memcapacitor, Md Sakib Hasan, memelements, meminductors, memristor, Memristors memcapacitors and meminductors for faster computers, nerve cells, neuromorphic computing, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pat Collier, Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), R. Stanley Williams, Ryan J. Weiss, shapeshifting membranes, spiking neural networks, Stephen A. Sarles, Texas A&M University, University of Tennessee on February 13, 2020 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Memristors with better mimicry of synapses
It seems to me it's been quite a while since I've stumbled across a memristor story from the University of Micihigan but it was worth waiting for. (Much of the research around memristors has to do with their potential application in neuromorphic (brainlike) computers.) From a December 17, 2018 news item on ScienceDaily,
A new electronic device developed at the University of Michigan can directly model the behaviors of a synapse, which is a connection between two neurons.
For the first time, the way that neurons share or compete for resources can be explored in hardware without the need for complicated circuits.
"Neuroscientists have argued that competition and cooperation behaviors among synapses are very important. Our new memristive devices allow us to implement a faithful model of these behaviors in a solid-state system," said Wei Lu, U-M professor of electrical and computer engineering and senior author of the study in Nature Materials.
A December 17, 2018 University of Michigan news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides an explanation of memristors and their 'similarity' to synapses while providing more details about this latest research,
Memristors are electrical resistors with memory–advanced electronic devices that regulate current based on the history of the voltages applied to them. They can store and process data simultaneously, which makes them a lot more efficient than traditional systems. They could enable new platforms that process a vast number of signals in parallel and are capable of advanced machine learning.
The memristor is a good model for a synapse. It mimics the way that the connections between neurons strengthen or weaken when signals pass through them. But the changes in conductance typically come from changes in the shape of the channels of conductive material within the memristor. These channels–and the memristor's ability to conduct electricity–could not be precisely controlled in previous devices.
Now, the U-M team has made a memristor in which they have better command of the conducting pathways.They developed a new material out of the semiconductor molybdenum disulfide–a "two-dimensional" material that can be peeled into layers just a few atoms thick. Lu's team injected lithium ions into the gaps between molybdenum disulfide layers.
They found that if there are enough lithium ions present, the molybdenum sulfide transforms its lattice structure, enabling electrons to run through the film easily as if it were a metal. But in areas with too few lithium ions, the molybdenum sulfide restores its original lattice structure and becomes a semiconductor, and electrical signals have a hard time getting through.
The lithium ions are easy to rearrange within the layer by sliding them with an electric field. This changes the size of the regions that conduct electricity little by little and thereby controls the device's conductance.
"Because we change the 'bulk' properties of the film, the conductance change is much more gradual and much more controllable," Lu said.
In addition to making the devices behave better, the layered structure enabled Lu's team to link multiple memristors together through shared lithium ions–creating a kind of connection that is also found in brains. A single neuron's dendrite, or its signal-receiving end, may have several synapses connecting it to the signaling arms of other neurons. Lu compares the availability of lithium ions to that of a protein that enables synapses to grow.
If the growth of one synapse releases these proteins, called plasticity-related proteins, other synapses nearby can also grow–this is cooperation. Neuroscientists have argued that cooperation between synapses helps to rapidly form vivid memories that last for decades and create associative memories, like a scent that reminds you of your grandmother's house, for example. If the protein is scarce, one synapse will grow at the expense of the other–and this competition pares down our brains' connections and keeps them from exploding with signals.
Lu's team was able to show these phenomena directly using their memristor devices. In the competition scenario, lithium ions were drained away from one side of the device. The side with the lithium ions increased its conductance, emulating the growth, and the conductance of the device with little lithium was stunted.
In a cooperation scenario, they made a memristor network with four devices that can exchange lithium ions, and then siphoned some lithium ions from one device out to the others. In this case, not only could the lithium donor increase its conductance–the other three devices could too, although their signals weren't as strong.
Lu's team is currently building networks of memristors like these to explore their potential for neuromorphic computing, which mimics the circuitry of the brain.
Ionic modulation and ionic coupling effects in MoS2 devices for neuromorphic computing by Xiaojian Zhu, Da Li, Xiaogan Liang, & Wei D. Lu. Nature Materials (2018) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0248-5 Published 17 December 2018
The researchers have made images illustrating their work available,
A schematic of the molybdenum disulfide layers with lithium ions between them. On the right, the simplified inset shows how the molybdenum disulfide changes its atom arrangements in the presence and absence of the lithium atoms, between a metal (1T' phase) and semiconductor (2H phase), respectively. Image credit: Xiaojian Zhu, Nanoelectronics Group, University of Michigan.
A diagram of a synapse receiving a signal from one of the connecting neurons. This signal activates the generation of plasticity-related proteins (PRPs), which help a synapse to grow. They can migrate to other synapses, which enables multiple synapses to grow at once. The new device is the first to mimic this process directly, without the need for software or complicated circuits. Image credit: Xiaojian Zhu, Nanoelectronics Group, University of Michigan.
An electron microscope image showing the rectangular gold (Au) electrodes representing signalling neurons and the rounded electrode representing the receiving neuron. The material of molybdenum disulfide layered with lithium connects the electrodes, enabling the simulation of cooperative growth among synapses. Image credit: Xiaojian Zhu, Nanoelectronics Group, University of Michigan.
That's all folks.
This entry was posted in electronics, nanotechnology, neuromorphic engineering and tagged brainlike computing, Da Li, electrical resistors with memory, human brain, Ionic modulation and ionic coupling effects in MoS2 devices for neuromorphic computing, lithium ions, memristive devices, memristor, molybdenum disulfide, neural plasticity, neuromorphic computing, neurons, Semiconductor, SyNAPSE, synaptic plasticity, two-dimensional material, University of Michigan, Wei Lu, Xiaogan Liang, Xiaojian Zhu on July 10, 2019 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Two-dimensional material stacks into multiple layers to build a memory cell for longer lasting batteries
This research comes from Purdue University (US) and the December announcement seemed particularly timely since battery-powered gifts are popular at Christmas but since it could be many years before this work is commercialized, you may want to tuck it away for future reference. Also, readers familiar with memristors might see a resemblance to the memory cells mentioned in the following excerpt. From a December 13, 2018 news item on Nanowerk,
The more objects we make "smart," from watches to entire buildings, the greater the need for these devices to store and retrieve massive amounts of data quickly without consuming too much power.
Millions of new memory cells could be part of a computer chip and provide that speed and energy savings, thanks to the discovery of a previously unobserved functionality in a material called molybdenum ditelluride.
The two-dimensional material stacks into multiple layers to build a memory cell. Researchers at Purdue University engineered this device in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Theiss Research Inc.
A December 13, 2018 Purdue University news release by Kayla Wiles, which originated the news item, describes the work in more detail,
Chip-maker companies have long called for better memory technologies to enable a growing network of smart devices. One of these next-generation possibilities is resistive random access memory, or RRAM for short.
In RRAM, an electrical current is typically driven through a memory cell made up of stacked materials, creating a change in resistance that records data as 0s and 1s in memory. The sequence of 0s and 1s among memory cells identifies pieces of information that a computer reads to perform a function and then store into memory again.
A material would need to be robust enough for storing and retrieving data at least trillions of times, but materials currently used have been too unreliable. So RRAM hasn't been available yet for widescale use on computer chips.
Molybdenum ditelluride could potentially last through all those cycles.
"We haven't yet explored system fatigue using this new material, but our hope is that it is both faster and more reliable than other approaches due to the unique switching mechanism we've observed," Joerg Appenzeller, Purdue University's Barry M. and Patricia L. Epstein Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the scientific director of nanoelectronics at the Birck Nanotechnology Center.
Molybdenum ditelluride allows a system to switch more quickly between 0 and 1, potentially increasing the rate of storing and retrieving information. This is because when an electric field is applied to the cell, atoms are displaced by a tiny distance, resulting in a state of high resistance, noted as 0, or a state of low resistance, noted as 1, which can occur much faster than switching in conventional RRAM devices.
"Because less power is needed for these resistive states to change, a battery could last longer," Appenzeller said.
In a computer chip, each memory cell would be located at the intersection of wires, forming a memory array called cross-point RRAM.
Appenzeller's lab wants to explore building a stacked memory cell that also incorporates the other main components of a computer chip: "logic," which processes data, and "interconnects," wires that transfer electrical signals, by utilizing a library of novel electronic materials fabricated at NIST.
"Logic and interconnects drain battery too, so the advantage of an entirely two-dimensional architecture is more functionality within a small space and better communication between memory and logic," Appenzeller said.
Two U.S. patent applications have been filed for this technology through the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization.
The work received financial support from the Semiconductor Research Corporation through the NEW LIMITS Center (led by Purdue University), NIST, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Material Genome Initiative.
Electric-field induced structural transition in vertical MoTe2- and Mo1–xWxTe2-based resistive memories by Feng Zhang, Huairuo Zhang, Sergiy Krylyuk, Cory A. Milligan, Yuqi Zhu, Dmitry Y. Zemlyanov, Leonid A. Bendersky, Benjamin P. Burton, Albert V. Davydov, & Joerg Appenzeller. Nature Materials volume 18, pages 55–61 (2019) Published: 10 December 2018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0234-y
This entry was posted in electronics, intellectual property, nanotechnology and tagged (US) Material Genome Initiative, (US) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Albert V. Davydov, Benjamin P. Burton, Cory A. Milligan, Dmitry Y. Zemlyanov, Electric-field induced structural transition in vertical MoTe2- and Mo1–xWxTe2-based resistive memories, Feng Zhang, Huairuo Zhang, Joerg Appenzeller, Kayla Wiles, Leonid A. Bendersky, memory cells, memristor, molybdenum ditelluride, Purdue University, resistance, resistive random access memory (RRAM), RRAM, Sergiy Krylyuk, smart devices, Theiss Research, two-dimensional architecture, US, US Department of Commerce, US patents, Yuqi Zhu on July 9, 2019 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Artificial synapse courtesy of nanowires
It looks like a popsicle to me,
Caption: Image captured by an electron microscope of a single nanowire memristor (highlighted in colour to distinguish it from other nanowires in the background image). Blue: silver electrode, orange: nanowire, yellow: platinum electrode. Blue bubbles are dispersed over the nanowire. They are made up of silver ions and form a bridge between the electrodes which increases the resistance. Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich
Not a popsicle but a representation of a device (memristor) scientists claim mimics a biological nerve cell according to a December 5, 2018 news item on ScienceDaily,
Scientists from Jülich [Germany] together with colleagues from Aachen [Germany] and Turin [Italy] have produced a memristive element made from nanowires that functions in much the same way as a biological nerve cell. The component is able to both save and process information, as well as receive numerous signals in parallel. The resistive switching cell made from oxide crystal nanowires is thus proving to be the ideal candidate for use in building bioinspired "neuromorphic" processors, able to take over the diverse functions of biological synapses and neurons.
A Dec. 5, 2018 Forschungszentrum Jülich press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more details,
Computers have learned a lot in recent years. Thanks to rapid progress in artificial intelligence they are now able to drive cars, translate texts, defeat world champions at chess, and much more besides. In doing so, one of the greatest challenges lies in the attempt to artificially reproduce the signal processing in the human brain. In neural networks, data are stored and processed to a high degree in parallel. Traditional computers on the other hand rapidly work through tasks in succession and clearly distinguish between the storing and processing of information. As a rule, neural networks can only be simulated in a very cumbersome and inefficient way using conventional hardware.
Systems with neuromorphic chips that imitate the way the human brain works offer significant advantages. Experts in the field describe this type of bioinspired computer as being able to work in a decentralised way, having at its disposal a multitude of processors, which, like neurons in the brain, are connected to each other by networks. If a processor breaks down, another can take over its function. What is more, just like in the brain, where practice leads to improved signal transfer, a bioinspired processor should have the capacity to learn.
"With today's semiconductor technology, these functions are to some extent already achievable. These systems are however suitable for particular applications and require a lot of space and energy," says Dr. Ilia Valov from Forschungszentrum Jülich. "Our nanowire devices made from zinc oxide crystals can inherently process and even store information, as well as being extremely small and energy efficient," explains the researcher from Jülich's Peter Grünberg Institute.
For years memristive cells have been ascribed the best chances of being capable of taking over the function of neurons and synapses in bioinspired computers. They alter their electrical resistance depending on the intensity and direction of the electric current flowing through them. In contrast to conventional transistors, their last resistance value remains intact even when the electric current is switched off. Memristors are thus fundamentally capable of learning.
In order to create these properties, scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University used a single zinc oxide nanowire, produced by their colleagues from the polytechnic university in Turin. Measuring approximately one ten-thousandth of a millimeter in size, this type of nanowire is over a thousand times thinner than a human hair. The resulting memristive component not only takes up a tiny amount of space, but also is able to switch much faster than flash memory.
Nanowires offer promising novel physical properties compared to other solids and are used among other things in the development of new types of solar cells, sensors, batteries and computer chips. Their manufacture is comparatively simple. Nanowires result from the evaporation deposition of specified materials onto a suitable substrate, where they practically grow of their own accord.
In order to create a functioning cell, both ends of the nanowire must be attached to suitable metals, in this case platinum and silver. The metals function as electrodes, and in addition, release ions triggered by an appropriate electric current. The metal ions are able to spread over the surface of the wire and build a bridge to alter its conductivity.
Components made from single nanowires are, however, still too isolated to be of practical use in chips. Consequently, the next step being planned by the Jülich and Turin researchers is to produce and study a memristive element, composed of a larger, relatively easy to generate group of several hundred nanowires offering more exciting functionalities.
The Italians have also written about the work in a December 4, 2018 news item for the Polytecnico di Torino's inhouse magazine, PoliFlash'. I like the image they've used better as it offers a bit more detail and looks less like a popsicle. First, the image,
Courtesy: Polytecnico di Torino
Now, the news item, which includes some historical information about the memristor (Note: There is some repetition and links have been removed),
Emulating and understanding the human brain is one of the most important challenges for modern technology: on the one hand, the ability to artificially reproduce the processing of brain signals is one of the cornerstones for the development of artificial intelligence, while on the other the understanding of the cognitive processes at the base of the human mind is still far away.
And the research published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications by Gianluca Milano and Carlo Ricciardi, PhD student and professor, respectively, of the Applied Science and Technology Department of the Politecnico di Torino, represents a step forward in these directions. In fact, the study entitled "Self-limited single nanowire systems combining all-in-one memristive and neuromorphic functionalities" shows how it is possible to artificially emulate the activity of synapses, i.e. the connections between neurons that regulate the learning processes in our brain, in a single "nanowire" with a diameter thousands of times smaller than that of a hair.
It is a crystalline nanowire that takes the "memristor", the electronic device able to artificially reproduce the functions of biological synapses, to a more performing level. Thanks to the use of nanotechnologies, which allow the manipulation of matter at the atomic level, it was for the first time possible to combine into one single device the synaptic functions that were individually emulated through specific devices. For this reason, the nanowire allows an extreme miniaturisation of the "memristor", significantly reducing the complexity and energy consumption of the electronic circuits necessary for the implementation of learning algorithms.
Starting from the theorisation of the "memristor" in 1971 by Prof. Leon Chua – now visiting professor at the Politecnico di Torino, who was conferred an honorary degree by the University in 2015 – this new technology will not only allow smaller and more performing devices to be created for the implementation of increasingly "intelligent" computers, but is also a significant step forward for the emulation and understanding of the functioning of the brain.
"The nanowire memristor – said Carlo Ricciardi – represents a model system for the study of physical and electrochemical phenomena that govern biological synapses at the nanoscale. The work is the result of the collaboration between our research team and the RWTH University of Aachen in Germany, supported by INRiM, the National Institute of Metrological Research, and IIT, the Italian Institute of Technology."
h.t for the Italian info. to Nanowerk's Dec. 10, 2018 news item.
Self-limited single nanowire systems combining all-in-one memristive and neuromorphic functionalities by Gianluca Milano, Michael Luebben, Zheng Ma, Rafal Dunin-Borkowski, Luca Boarino, Candido F. Pirri, Rainer Waser, Carlo Ricciardi, & Ilia Valov. Nature Communicationsvolume 9, Article number: 5151 (2018) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07330-7 Published: 04 December 2018
Just use the search term "memristor" in the blog search engine if you're curious about the multitudinous number of postings on the topic here.
This entry was posted in biomimcry, electronics, nanotechnology and tagged (Italy) National Institute of Metrological Research (INRiM), AI, artificial intelligence, artificial synapse, bioinspired computer, bioinspired neuromorphic processors, biological nerve cell, biological synapses, brainlike computing, Candido F. Pirri, Carlo Ricciardi, computers, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany, Gianluca Milano, human brain, Ilia Valov, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Italy, learning, learning algorithms, Leon Chua, Luca Boarino, memristive cells, memristor, Michael Luebben, nanowire, neural networks, neural plasticity, neuromorphic chips, neuromorphic computing, neuromorphic engineering, neurons, platinum electrode, Politecnico di Torino, Rafal Dunin-Borkowski, Rainer Waser, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, Self-limited single nanowire systems combining all-in-one memristive and neuromorphic functionalities, semiconductor technology, silver electrode, silver ions, single nanowire memristor, University of Turin, Zheng Ma, zinc oxide crystals on June 25, 2019 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Artificial synapse based on tantalum oxide from Korean researchers
This memristor story comes from South Korea as we progress on the way to neuromorphic computing (brainlike computing). A Sept. 7, 2018 news item on ScienceDaily makes the announcement,
A research team led by Director Myoung-Jae Lee from the Intelligent Devices and Systems Research Group at DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology) has succeeded in developing an artificial synaptic device that mimics the function of the nerve cells (neurons) and synapses that are response for memory in human brains. [sic]
Synapses are where axons and dendrites meet so that neurons in the human brain can send and receive nerve signals; there are known to be hundreds of trillions of synapses in the human brain.
This chemical synapse information transfer system, which transfers information from the brain, can handle high-level parallel arithmetic with very little energy, so research on artificial synaptic devices, which mimic the biological function of a synapse, is under way worldwide.
Dr. Lee's research team, through joint research with teams led by Professor Gyeong-Su Park from Seoul National University; Professor Sung Kyu Park from Chung-ang University; and Professor Hyunsang Hwang from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTEC), developed a high-reliability artificial synaptic device with multiple values by structuring tantalum oxide — a trans-metallic material — into two layers of Ta2O5-x and TaO2-x and by controlling its surface.
A September 7, 2018 DGIST press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, delves further into the work,
The artificial synaptic device developed by the research team is an electrical synaptic device that simulates the function of synapses in the brain as the resistance of the tantalum oxide layer gradually increases or decreases depending on the strength of the electric signals. It has succeeded in overcoming durability limitations of current devices by allowing current control only on one layer of Ta2O5-x.
In addition, the research team successfully implemented an experiment that realized synapse plasticity [or synaptic plasticity], which is the process of creating, storing, and deleting memories, such as long-term strengthening of memory and long-term suppression of memory deleting by adjusting the strength of the synapse connection between neurons.
The non-volatile multiple-value data storage method applied by the research team has the technological advantage of having a small area of an artificial synaptic device system, reducing circuit connection complexity, and reducing power consumption by more than one-thousandth compared to data storage methods based on digital signals using 0 and 1 such as volatile CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor).
The high-reliability artificial synaptic device developed by the research team can be used in ultra-low-power devices or circuits for processing massive amounts of big data due to its capability of low-power parallel arithmetic. It is expected to be applied to next-generation intelligent semiconductor device technologies such as development of artificial intelligence (AI) including machine learning and deep learning and brain-mimicking semiconductors.
Dr. Lee said, "This research secured the reliability of existing artificial synaptic devices and improved the areas pointed out as disadvantages. We expect to contribute to the development of AI based on the neuromorphic system that mimics the human brain by creating a circuit that imitates the function of neurons."
Reliable Multivalued Conductance States in TaOx Memristors through Oxygen Plasma-Assisted Electrode Deposition with in Situ-Biased Conductance State Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis by Myoung-Jae Lee, Gyeong-Su Park, David H. Seo, Sung Min Kwon, Hyeon-Jun Lee, June-Seo Kim, MinKyung Jung, Chun-Yeol You, Hyangsook Lee, Hee-Goo Kim, Su-Been Pang, Sunae Seo, Hyunsang Hwang, and Sung Kyu Park. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2018, 10 (35), pp 29757–29765 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b09046 Publication Date (Web): July 23, 2018
Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society
You can find other memristor and neuromorphic computing stories here by using the search terms I've highlighted, My latest (more or less) is an April 19, 2018 posting titled, New path to viable memristor/neuristor?
Finally, here's an image from the Korean researchers that accompanied their work,
Caption: Representation of neurons and synapses in the human brain. The magnified synapse represents the portion mimicked using solid-state devices. Credit: Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology(DGIST)
This entry was posted in electronics, nanotechnology and tagged AI, artificial intelligence, artificial synaptic device, artificial synaptic devices, axons, brain-mimicking semiconductors, brainlike computing, Chun-Yeol You, Chung-ang University, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), David H. Seo, deep learning, dendrites, Gyeong-Su Park, Hee-Goo Kim, human brains, Hyangsook Lee, Hyeon-Jun Lee, Hyunsang Hwang, June-Seo Kim, Korea, machine learning, memory, memristor, MinKyung Jung, Myoung-Jae Lee, neuromorphic computing, neuromorphic engineering, neurons, New path to viable memristor/neuristor?, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTEC), Reliable Multivalued Conductance States in TaOx Memristors through Oxygen Plasma-Assisted Electrode Deposition with in Situ-Biased Conductance State Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis, Seoul National University, South Korea, Su-Been Pang, Sunae Seo, Sung Kyu Park, Sung Min Kwon, synapse plasticity, synapses, synaptic plasticity, tantalum oxide, volatile CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) on April 10, 2019 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Embedded AI (artificial intelligence) with a variant of a memristor?
I don't entirely get how ReRAM (resistive random access memory) is a variant of a memristor but I'm assuming Samuel K. Moore knows what he's writing about since his May 16, 2018 posting is on the Nanoclast blog (hosted by the IEEE [Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]), Note: Links have been removed,
Resistive RAM technology developer Crossbar says it has inked a deal with aerospace chip maker Microsemi allowing the latter to embed Crossbar's nonvolatile memory on future chips. The move follows selection of Crossbar's technology by a leading foundry for advanced manufacturing nodes. Crossbar is counting on resistive RAM (ReRAM) to enable artificial intelligence systems whose neural networks are housed within the device rather than in the cloud.
ReRAM is a variant of the memristor, a nonvolatile memory device whose resistance can be set or reset by a pulse of voltage. The variant Crossbar qualified for advanced manufacturing is called a filament device. It's built within the layers above a chip's silicon, where the IC's interconnects go, and it's made up of three layers: from top to bottom—silver, amorphous silicon, and tungsten. Voltage across the amorphous silicon causes a filament of silver atoms to cross the gap to the tungsten, making the memory cell conductive. Reversing the voltage pushes the silver back into place, cutting off conduction.
"The filament itself is only three to four nanometers wide," says Sylvain Dubois, vice president of marketing and business development at Crossbar. "So the cell itself will be able to scale below 10-nanometers." What's more, the ratio between the current that flows when the device is on to when it is off is 1,000 or higher. …
A May 14, 2018 Crossbar news release describes some of the technical AI challenges,
"The biggest challenge facing engineers for AI today is overcoming the memory speed and power bottleneck in the current architecture to get faster data access while lowering the energy cost," said Dubois. "By enabling a new, memory-centric non-volatile architecture like ReRAM, the entire trained model or knowledge base can be on-chip, connected directly to the neural network with the potential to achieve massive energy savings and performance improvements, resulting in a greatly improved battery life and a better user experience."
Crossbar's May 16, 2018 news release provides more detail about their 'strategic collaboration' with Microsemi Products (Note: A link has been removed),
Crossbar Inc., the ReRAM technology leader, announced an agreement with Microsemi Corporation, the largest U.S. commercial supplier of military and aerospace semiconductors, in which Microsemi will license Crossbar's ReRAM core intellectual property. As part of the agreement, Microsemi and Crossbar will collaborate in the research, development and application of Crossbar's proprietary ReRAM technology in next generation products from Microsemi that integrate Crossbar's embedded ReRAM with Microsemi products manufactured at the 1x nm process node.
Military and aerospace, eh?
This entry was posted in electronics, military, nanotechnology and tagged aerospace, artificial intelligence (AI), brainlike computing, Crossbar, IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, memristor, Microsemi, neuromorphic computing, neuromorphic engineering, resistive RAM (ReRAM), Resistive RAM technology, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), Samuel K. Moore on October 4, 2018 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Announcing the 'memtransistor'
Yet another advance toward 'brainlike' computing (how many times have I written this or a variation thereof in the last 10 years? See: Dexter Johnson's take on the situation at the end of this post): Northwestern University announced their latest memristor research in a February 21, 2018 news item on Nanowerk,
Computer algorithms might be performing brain-like functions, such as facial recognition and language translation, but the computers themselves have yet to operate like brains.
"Computers have separate processing and memory storage units, whereas the brain uses neurons to perform both functions," said Northwestern University's Mark C. Hersam. "Neural networks can achieve complicated computation with significantly lower energy consumption compared to a digital computer."
A February 21, 2018 Northwestern University news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more information about the latest work from this team,
In recent years, researchers have searched for ways to make computers more neuromorphic, or brain-like, in order to perform increasingly complicated tasks with high efficiency. Now Hersam, a Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, and his team are bringing the world closer to realizing this goal.
The research team has developed a novel device called a "memtransistor," which operates much like a neuron by performing both memory and information processing. With combined characteristics of a memristor and transistor, the memtransistor also encompasses multiple terminals that operate more similarly to a neural network.
Supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation, the research was published online today, February 22 [2018], in Nature. Vinod K. Sangwan and Hong-Sub Lee, postdoctoral fellows advised by Hersam, served as the paper's co-first authors.
The memtransistor builds upon work published in 2015, in which Hersam, Sangwan, and their collaborators used single-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) to create a three-terminal, gate-tunable memristor for fast, reliable digital memory storage. Memristor, which is short for "memory resistors," are resistors in a current that "remember" the voltage previously applied to them. Typical memristors are two-terminal electronic devices, which can only control one voltage channel. By transforming it into a three-terminal device, Hersam paved the way for memristors to be used in more complex electronic circuits and systems, such as neuromorphic computing.
To develop the memtransistor, Hersam's team again used atomically thin MoS2 with well-defined grain boundaries, which influence the flow of current. Similar to the way fibers are arranged in wood, atoms are arranged into ordered domains – called "grains" – within a material. When a large voltage is applied, the grain boundaries facilitate atomic motion, causing a change in resistance.
"Because molybdenum disulfide is atomically thin, it is easily influenced by applied electric fields," Hersam explained. "This property allows us to make a transistor. The memristor characteristics come from the fact that the defects in the material are relatively mobile, especially in the presence of grain boundaries."
But unlike his previous memristor, which used individual, small flakes of MoS2, Hersam's memtransistor makes use of a continuous film of polycrystalline MoS2 that comprises a large number of smaller flakes. This enabled the research team to scale up the device from one flake to many devices across an entire wafer.
"When length of the device is larger than the individual grain size, you are guaranteed to have grain boundaries in every device across the wafer," Hersam said. "Thus, we see reproducible, gate-tunable memristive responses across large arrays of devices."
After fabricating memtransistors uniformly across an entire wafer, Hersam's team added additional electrical contacts. Typical transistors and Hersam's previously developed memristor each have three terminals. In their new paper, however, the team realized a seven-terminal device, in which one terminal controls the current among the other six terminals.
"This is even more similar to neurons in the brain," Hersam said, "because in the brain, we don't usually have one neuron connected to only one other neuron. Instead, one neuron is connected to multiple other neurons to form a network. Our device structure allows multiple contacts, which is similar to the multiple synapses in neurons."
Next, Hersam and his team are working to make the memtransistor faster and smaller. Hersam also plans to continue scaling up the device for manufacturing purposes.
"We believe that the memtransistor can be a foundational circuit element for new forms of neuromorphic computing," he said. "However, making dozens of devices, as we have done in our paper, is different than making a billion, which is done with conventional transistor technology today. Thus far, we do not see any fundamental barriers that will prevent further scale up of our approach."
The researchers have made this illustration available,
Caption: This is the memtransistor symbol overlaid on an artistic rendering of a hypothetical circuit layout in the shape of a brain. Credit; Hersam Research Group
Multi-terminal memtransistors from polycrystalline monolayer molybdenum disulfide by Vinod K. Sangwan, Hong-Sub Lee, Hadallia Bergeron, Itamar Balla, Megan E. Beck, Kan-Sheng Chen, & Mark C. Hersam. Nature volume 554, pages 500–504 (22 February 2018 doi:10.1038/nature25747 Published online: 21 February 2018
The team's earlier work referenced in the news release was featured here in an April 10, 2015 posting.
Dexter Johnson
From a Feb. 23, 2018 posting by Dexter Johnson on the Nanoclast blog (on the IEEE [Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers] website),
While this all seems promising, one of the big shortcomings in neuromorphic computing has been that it doesn't mimic the brain in a very important way. In the brain, for every neuron there are a thousand synapses—the electrical signal sent between the neurons of the brain. This poses a problem because a transistor only has a single terminal, hardly an accommodating architecture for multiplying signals.
Now researchers at Northwestern University, led by Mark Hersam, have developed a new device that combines memristors—two-terminal non-volatile memory devices based on resistance switching—with transistors to create what Hersam and his colleagues have dubbed a "memtransistor" that performs both memory storage and information processing.
This most recent research builds on work that Hersam and his team conducted back in 2015 in which the researchers developed a three-terminal, gate-tunable memristor that operated like a kind of synapse.
While this work was recognized as mimicking the low-power computing of the human brain, critics didn't really believe that it was acting like a neuron since it could only transmit a signal from one artificial neuron to another. This was far short of a human brain that is capable of making tens of thousands of such connections.
"Traditional memristors are two-terminal devices, whereas our memtransistors combine the non-volatility of a two-terminal memristor with the gate-tunability of a three-terminal transistor," said Hersam to IEEE Spectrum. "Our device design accommodates additional terminals, which mimic the multiple synapses in neurons."
Hersam believes that these unique attributes of these multi-terminal memtransistors are likely to present a range of new opportunities for non-volatile memory and neuromorphic computing.
If you have the time and the interest, Dexter's post provides more context,
This entry was posted in electronics, nanotechnology and tagged brainlike computing, continuous film of polycrystalline MoS2, Dexter Johnson, Hadallia Bergeron, Hong-Sub Lee, Itamar Balla, Kan-Sheng Chen, Mark C. Hersam, Megan E. Beck, memory resistors, memristor, memtransistor, MoS2, Multi-terminal memtransistors from polycrystalline monolayer molybdenum disulfide, neural network, neural plasticity, neuromorphic computing, neuromorphic engineering, neuron, NIST, Northwestern University, NSF, seven-terminal memristive device, single-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), synaptic plasticity, three-terminal gate-tunable memristor, transistor, US National Institute of Standards and Technology, US National Science Foundation, Vinod K. Sangwan on June 5, 2018 by Maryse de la Giroday.


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Dale (USA) Report N12 (added on October, 5, 2011) Jennifer initiated contact through email message on dating site, zoosk. Jason (USA) Report N13 (added on October, 12, 2011) Prolific scammer uses lots of different names start small i.e.This group gets my email address from the site, which doesn't give out the address. I email them on my email address to gather info about them for Stop so others can be forewarned.With most of them it is hard to get them to write much because they want to chat. After only 2nd chat was aqsking for money for phone minutes, then was asking to go to website and fill her phone with credits, then begged for me to double the amount.do not trust this girl she will win your confedance over time then it all starts asking for money via western union.Alan (UK) Report N14 (added on October, 28, 2011) She try to feel in love and she start asking a new laptop or 200 dollar for buy a new laptop. BOX 90, Kumasi, Ghana Plot N53 A, Tarkwa Makro, Kumasi Suame, Ghana Box 93613, Accra, Ghana Ukraine, 91000, Lugansk, Oboronnaya str., 35 PO Box 580 Mankrono, Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa, 00233 15th Avenue street, Accra, Ghana, 23321 120 Polo Street, Accra, Ghana 451 Yendi street, Tamele, Ghana 00233 P.o Box 27, Agona Nyarkrom, Central Region, Ghana, West Africa, 00233 P. Box AO 191, Aboabo, Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa box BJ46, Awutu Bawjiase, Ghana 313 NW Racetrack Road #5408, Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32547, USA 441 Kanda Highway, Accra, Ghana, 0023, Adum-Kumasi, Ghana, 00233 25 Unity Hotel, Ife, Osun, Nigeria, 234036 P. Very soon talks about love and very soon needs money for water bills, electrical bills, internet access, etc.


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text:
One government worker's perspective on fighting the Trump shutdown
December 28, 2018	6:16 PM CDT By Lowell B. Denny, III
It's going to take more than phone calls to the White House switchboard to force the hand of this administration. | Evan Vucci / AP
As I carefully read the tea leaves last Friday ahead of the possible government shutdown, my optimism that this would be much ado about nothing switched to pessimism. Such are the pitfalls of trying to follow any story in a linear fashion out of this White House. There seems to be many messages coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., each contradicting the other. And these many messages come mostly from the mouth of the occupant of the Oval Office.
I reactivated my Hawaii Department of Education teacher application and expanded my availability to other islands in the state. I worried that if a shutdown did happen, there would be no light at the end of this tunnel, and like all workers, my income was in jeopardy.
I have worked for the federal government for 12 years, been a member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) for a fraction of that, and was recently made a shop steward. It goes without saying the challenges we face as federal workers precede this shutdown and Donald Trump, but the attacks this administration has made against government unions have been novel and sustained. While the Bush II administration prohibited my agency from organizing altogether, Obama opened the door but with many limitations to what our elected union could do.
The shutdown is now stretching well past the Christmas holiday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated there will be no more business on the Senate floor until the Democrats and Trump agreed on something that the president would sign.
The prospect of no paychecks became more ominous with McConnell's improbable scenario. Until January, the Republicans run both houses of the Congress and the White House.
Few workers can endure this financially, and this is no different here in Hawaii where the gentrification plaguing most cities on the U.S. mainland takes on a different dimension. For one, there are few suburbs to exploit for cheaper housing and, two, tourism has replaced agriculture as Hawaii's number-one industry. These jobs are not known to be well-paying ones. In fact, the reliance on tourism further undercuts the availability of housing as property owners have turned to Airbnb to make greater returns than they can on full-time rentals.
And still our response to these shutdowns is the same tactic. Call the White House. Tell the switchboard where you live. Stress what a burden this shutdown will have on working people. All day Friday and through the weekend, my colleagues and I were encouraged to make this call, telling them, "We want to work!"
There is no strengthening of the labor movement to come from calling the switchboard of this White House unless your name is Rush Limbaugh or Anne Coulter. The occupant of the Oval Office, who, it should be remembered, lost the 2016 election by three million votes, does not even listen to the moderating, albeit reactionary voices within his own White House.
But the generational erosion of the labor movement, under either political party's administration, continues uninterrupted.
It should be part of our collective memory how at the dawn of the Cold War the unions, especially the CIO, were purged of Communist members who had formed the backbone of the labor movement, and how several affiliated unions were de-certified.
It should also be remembered that the infamous Hollywood witch hunt was prompted by labor-organizing activities, most notably John Howard Lawson. Lawson, a screenwriter and Communist Party member who had come to Hollywood in the 1920s, formed the Screen Writers Guild in 1934, to the ire of all the studio heads, like Louis B. Mayer, Sam Cohn, and Jack Warner, who vowed to crush it.
These studio heads colluded with the House Committee and, later, Sen. Joe McCarthy.
It was during the recent nomination hearings for Brett Kavanaugh that University of Houston scholar Prof. Gerald Horne issued an indictment and analysis on Pacifica Radio that applies to the degrading state of the labor movement.
"In fact our liberal friends owe us an apology," Horne said in assessing Kavanaugh's rise this past June, "because they in some ways helped to lead us to the brink of disaster. The ACLU for example purged those to its left, including Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a founder [and member of the Communist Party USA]; the AFL-CIO purged those to its left, including Harry Bridges of the International Longshoremen & Warehouse Union [and member of the Communist Party USA]; the NAACP purged its founder, W.E.B. DuBois [also a Communist Party USA member]—this objectively strengthened the right wing"
The large fractures in our labor movement that demand mending cannot be disconnected from these attacks, and it is continuously perplexing that our analysis of our situation as a labor movement does not deal with this history.
The current government shutdown is in part a management lock-out of workers disparaged, rhetorically dismissed, and attacked by this president and his agency heads. This has been widely reported in the pages of People's World and elsewhere. The Trump administration's response to the tossing of his anti-worker orders a few months back has been to double down.
Management Directives (MD) have been issued by the federal agencies that directly contradict collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) between management and the labor unions representing the federal workers.
These MDs seem to cover pretty mundane things so far, but they are forcing local shop stewards and the unions to defend the CBAs piecemeal and use up precious resources doing so.
This is an uphill battle meant to exhaust any revival of the labor movement's strength. It is in these contexts that urgings to call the White House switchboard seem a bit feeble.
Also, besides denying 800,000 federal workers their pay, the unmentioned consequence is that our elected unions are denied their dues payments, which are payroll deductions.
When I suggest a more robust response as a union to the shutdown and these persistent attacks than calls to the White House, I get mostly pushback from co-workers. "Remember PATCO and the air-traffic controllers," they warn, recalling Reagan's firing of the striking air-traffic controllers; to which I have a rehearsed reply: Remember the postal workers strike in 1970 which won.
I am well aware that neither I nor AFGE can advocate industrial action [i.e., strike], so I will not. But I will keep repeating that the labor movement continues to be degraded from the points I just mentioned, and all we are left to do is manage the decline, not avert it. We can choose to be mummified by past losses or choose to be imaginative, be inspired, and to take control.
The labor movement cannot act as if history began and ended with Reagan firing the air-traffic controllers. We forget the labor struggles of the past and what they achieved Even when those industrial actions achieved nothing in the short term, we forget how our militancy scared the pants off the political class into enacting accommodations for us.
The postal workers knew this in 1970, and it was a Republican president who acquiesced. In fact. they went on in 2012 to further success after a "hunger strike."
If the failure of PATCO continues to be our only reference point, we will remain mummified and helpless to the onslaughts to come, and this administration has already demonstrated more is to come.
I have communicated with other AFGE organizers in other districts, and there are other strategies being imagined by those not paralyzed by the Reagan-era rewind. Bottom line, in the long run, the labor movement will have to reconsider how closely it will be bound by anti-labor laws if it wants to make any headway on behalf of the rank and file. Shutdowns and lock-outs like this reveal just how much our fragile lives depend on our paychecks, so we must demonstrate our power in more effective ways.
Lowell B. Denny, III
Lowell B. Denny, III, has a degree in political science from Washington University. His political education began with his membership in Queer Nation-San Francisco, spending two months of work and study in Cuba in the early 1990s, then three months hitchhiking around Mexico where he got to spend a day in jail, and now living in Hawaii where the sovereignty movement is strong. He has worked in publishing, retail, as a school teacher and restaurant waiter. He is a member of AFGE Local 1234.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
The Veep Debate In One Sentence
You will hear a lot of analysis on the Veep debate. Listen to it if you want. But if you want the straight skinny, I have it here is one single sentence. Ready? Here.
The bottom line is that the guy who acted like a sneering condescending jerk and lost the debate still did way better than the complete failure at the top of the ticket.
*subhead*All you need to know..*subhead*
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Thank you for your running commentary. How fascinating to see a well-educated, well-spoken, highly moral young man speak eloquently to the issues while a gibbering idiot at the table played with himself.
Biden's interruptions were beyond annoying. Biden proved Ryan's comment which cited Obama's DNC nomination speech: "If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from." Joe and Barry have got to go!
Mr. Ryan, amazingly, kept his cool. A different man might have rightfully given Joe a knuckle sandwich for his insolence and bullying.
Mr. Ryan gave a subtle yet clear distinction between himself and Romney's position on abortion by first stating that he is pro-life and he believes life begins at conception for reasons of science and faith, then he noted the difficulty of the issue and that he respects those who disagree with his position, and by then stating that "the policy of a Romney administration will be to oppose abortion with the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother". Note, he referred to a "Romney administration", not a Romney-Ryan administration. Biden, by comparison, reiterated the tired rhetoric and sophistry of his generation, a sad attempt to absolve himself from his responsibility for contributing to a culture of death. If Biden believes that abortion destroys a human life, then why does he do nothing to oppose abortion? Because he doesn't want to "impose" his views?! That's an evasion of his responsibility as a Catholic to protect innocent life. If abortion destroys an innocent human life, and it most certainly does kill an innocent child, a reasonable person would work to establish laws which protect the unborn. "Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked… ?" Joe's in for a big surprise.
I also think Ryan's political astuteness is revealed by his subtle remark which employed the word "mother" instead of merely "woman" with regards to the abortion exceptions. If "mother", then the life destroyed by abortion is indeed a human life, a baby. Mothers have babies. Women have abortions, at least according to Banned Parenthood.
If Joe "The Badger" Biden won it's because his badgering impressed the uncritical liberal media horde. It was Tyson vs Ali, and Biden was the dope. Ryan was lucky not to have his ear bitten off.
Joe Biden – the raging dumpster fire of the American Left.
Anneg
Ryan showed what happens when a conservative with beliefs based in his faith, practices communicating his ideas to people who disagree, but, slowly, with logic and charity, convinces those who disagree that his ideas are right.
Amy Giglio
Wendell, that was one of the most astute comments I have read on the debate.
"Raging Dumpster fire" – perfect! Thank you, King Tiger.
ProudHillbilly
King Tiger – Perfect! I may steal that if you don't object!


Funny story – once we settled on doing this massive trip we kind of let the idea digest for awhile and didn't really talk itinerary for a few weeks. But once we did, we had the same idea, start in Moscow and work our way east on the train. Both of us grew up in Russia, which gives us certain advantages – passports, language, and understanding of cultural norms, all of which are huge to reducing the hassle level of traveling in the world's largest country.
The rest of planning was a bit harder, but here's a tentative plan.
– Thailand – well deserved rest on one of the islands.
– Thailand – Song kran sounds like a fantastically good idea.
– Indonesia — Bali for a month of relaxing.
* After here we kind of hit a dilemma. At this point we will have been on the road for about a year. On the one hand we would love to go to Argentina and Chile. But it might be a little too chilly for Chile. You know. So what shall we do?
We would love to hear any tips or ideas on when/where/and how for adventures around the world. Please share!