New Nano device mimics the functioning of human biological synapses read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/1081-new-nano-device-mimics-the-functioning-of-human-biological-synapses

Engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are developing a new type of Nano device for computer microprocessors that can mimic the functioning of a biological synapse, where a signal passes from one nerve cell to another in the body.

J. Joshua Yang and Qiangfei Xia, professors in the UMass Amherst College of Engineering describes the research on a new type of memristive device.

These devices are electrical resistance switches that can alter their resistance based on the history of applied voltage and current. It can store, process information and offer several key performance characteristics that exceed conventional integrated circuit technology.

Researchers say, memristors enable neuromorphic computing by reproducing the functions in biological synapses and neurons in a neural network system, while providing advantages in energy and size.

Neuromorphic computing means, microprocessors configured more like human brains than like traditional computer chips. It is one of the most promising transformative computing technologies.

This work opens a new avenue of neuromorphic computing hardware based on memristors.

The researchers say they proposed and demonstrated a bio-inspired solution to the diffusion dynamics that is fundamentally different from the standard technology for integrated circuits while sharing great similarities with synapses.

Researchers say, we developed a diffusion-type memristor where diffusion of atoms offers a similar dynamics and needed time-scales as its bio-counterpart, leading to a more faithful emulation of actual synapses, i.e., a true synaptic emulator.

Here, the results provide an encouraging pathway toward synaptic emulation using diffusive memristors for neuromorphic computing.