presenter：alexandre zimmers (espci paris/sorbonne university)
topic：manipulating metal-insulator patterns in vo2 for neuromorphic computing
time：09:30 am, oct 18th (friday)
location：909-b
abstract:：
the brain-inspired codes of the ai revolution primarily run on conventional silicon computer architectures that were not designed for this purpose. this will soon lead to unrealistic energy consumption as ai continues to grow. neuromorphic architectures offer the promise of lower energy consumption by mimicking the brain’s basic components—neurons and synapses—ideally using a single material. unfortunately, among the few quantum materials which naturally act as spiking neuristors (artificial neurons), non-volatile synaptor memory (artificial synapses) has been hard to implement. one promising candidate functioning at room temperature is vanadium dioxide (vo2). interestingly, this material exhibits multiscale fractal electronic patterns during its insulator-metal transition that must be understood and controlled before hoping to fully use it in a neuromorphic device.
to achieve this, we have developed a new optical microscopy method that allows for the precise sub-micron recording of these patterns and generate tc maps [1]. more recently, by utilizing various temperature sweeps [2], a focused laser beam, and an afm scanning tip [3], we have been able to modify and control these insulator-metal patterns. this breakthrough offers, for the first time, the possibility of creating rewritable synaptic connections between neuristors in a single vo2 material neuromorphic chip.
[1] arxiv:2301.04220 (2023)
[2] adv. electron. mater. 2023, 9, 2300085 (2023)
[3] to be published in adv. electron. mater. (2024)
biography：
alexandre zimmers is an associate professor at espci paris-psl university / sorbonne university, paris, france. his 2004 phd at the espci focused on optical conductivity in electron-doped high-tc superconductors. he then worked at the center for superconductivity at the university of maryland, with rick greene and dennis drew, on the magneto-optical response of cuprates. since 2007, his work at the espci has involved infrared optics, transport, scanning probe microscopy (stm, efm), and local temperature mapping in various strongly correlated materials and nanoparticles. his long-term interest in transition metal oxides has led him to the burgeoning and very promising field of neuromorphic circuits (neuristors and synaptors).
contact：prof. sun baoquan