Roll-to-roll gravure printing ultra-flexible sustained-photoconductivity carbon nanotube photoelectronic synaptic transistors for bio-inspired visual perception and self-recovery simulation

Xueyi Zhang; Nianzi Sui; Min Li; Suyun Wang; Shuangshuang Shao; Wanrong Liu; Jia Sun; Junliang Yang; Jianwen Zhao

doi:10.26599/NR.2025.94907350

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Research Article | Open Access

Roll-to-roll gravure printing ultra-flexible sustained-photoconductivity carbon nanotube photoelectronic synaptic transistors for bio-inspired visual perception and self-recovery simulation

Xueyi Zhang^{¹^,²^,³^,^§}, Nianzi Sui^{²^,³^,^§}, Min Li^{²^,³}

(), Suyun Wang^{²^,³}, Shuangshuang Shao^{²^,³}, Wanrong Liu^¹, Jia Sun^¹, Junliang Yang^¹

(), Jianwen Zhao^{²^,³}

()

1Hunan Key Laboratory for Super Microstructure and Ultrafast Process, School of Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China

2Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Display Materials and Chips, Division of Nanodevices and Related Nanomaterials, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 398 Ruoshui Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou 215123, China

3School of Nano Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, No. 166 Ren Ai Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou 215123, China

^§ Xueyi Zhang and Nianzi Sui contributed equally to this work.

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This study presents the successful fabrication of large-scale, ultra-flexible carbon nanotube photoelectronic synaptic transistor arrays with sustained photoconductivity, which exhibit remarkable electrical performance, photoresponse characteristics, and mechanical durability. Furthermore, these devices demonstrate the capability to emulate bio-inspired visual perception and self-recovery functionalities. Such advancements offer substantial promise for transformative applications in human–computer interaction, environmental sensing, and visual simulation technologies.

Abstract

The development of large-area high-performance flexible photoelectronic synaptic devices has become a hot topic in the field of neuromorphic computing and artificial vision systems. In this work, we have successfully prepared a large-area, ultra-flexible semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (sc-SWCNTs) photoelectronic synaptic thin-film transistors (TFTs) array (33 × 34) using solution-processable AlO_x thin film as the dielectrics by roll-to-roll gravure printing. Our photoelectronic synaptic TFTs exhibit excellent electrical properties with high switching ratio (≥ 10⁵), low subthreshold swing (73 mV·dec⁻¹), excellent photoresponse properties over a wide wavelength range (from 270 to 650 nm), sustained photoconductivity effect (only 26.7% drop after removing light source for 36,000 s) and remarkable mechanical reliability and flexibility (maintaining excellent electrical properties after bending more than 15,000 cycles with a bending radius of 5 mm). In addition, concepts such as multimodal optoelectronic synaptic plasticity, optical writing speed perception simulation, and human eye self-recovery model have been successfully demonstrated using printed flexible sc-SWCNTs photoelectronic neuromorphic TFTs arrays. More importantly, we systematically investigated the response characteristics of these devices under deep ultraviolet light stimulation and, for the first time, successfully simulated bio-inspired visual perception self-recovery including the dynamic transition of the visual system from clarity to blurriness and their self-recovery over time. This work indicates that our photoelectronic neuromorphic TFT devices have great practical potential in human–computer interaction, environment perception, and visual simulation.

Keywords

roll-to-roll gravure printing single-walled carbon nanotubes photoelectronic synaptic transistors ultra-flexibility sustained photoconductivity

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References

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