Speaker: Yoeri van de Burgt, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands

Abstract: Neuromorphic computing could address the inherent limitations of conventional silicon technology in dedicated machine learning applications. Recent work on silicon-based asynchronous spiking neural networks and large crossbar-arrays of two-terminal memristive devices has led to the development of promising neuromorphic systems. However, delivering a parallel computation technology, capable of implementing compact and efficient artificial neural networks in hardware, remains a significant challenge. Organic electronic materials offer an attractive alternative to such systems and could provide neuromorphic devices with low-energy switching and excellent tunability, while being biocompatible and relatively inexpensive.

This talk describes state-of-the-art organic neuromorphic devices and provides an overview of the current challenges in the field and attempts to address them. We demonstrate a novel concept based on an organic electrochemical transistor and show how some challenges in the field such as stability, linearity and state retention can be overcome.

Furthermore, we investigate chemical doping mechanisms in the active material for improved material functionality and introduce concepts to combine neuromorphic computing with biological cells and tissues, opening up possibilities in brain-machine interfacing and adaptive learning of artificial organs.

Bio: Yoeri obtained his BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering at TU/e, and then continued with his PhD at the same department on the topic ‘Laser-assisted growth of carbon nanotubes’. He successfully defended his thesis in 2014. He also worked as a research consultant for Holst Centre on an industrial project to implement his research setup in a manufacturing process for flexible and roll-to-roll applications. After subsequently working as an R&D Engineer at the company FEMTOprint, Switzerland, he obtained a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University (USA), where he worked on organic neuromorphics and electrochemical transistors. Furthermore, he studied laser/material interactions for the enhancement and investigation of electrogenic cell-material interaction on structured surfaces and was involved in laser-liftoff for single-crystal III-V semiconductor thin films. He has also been visiting professor at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering.

Hosted by Dion Khodagholy