An artificial synapse based on La:BiFeO3 ferroelectric memristor for pain perceptual nociceptor emulation

Recently, memristors with brain-like synaptic behavior have attracted widespread attention, offering unprecedented opportunities for constructing future artificial intelligent bio-inspired electronic systems. Herein, we report a ferroelectric memristor with a Pd/La0.1Bi0.9FeO3(LBFO)/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/SrTiO3/P+-Si structure, which exhibits the multilevel storage capacity of 12 resistive states, each with a retention time of 2 × 104 s and 200 ns ultra-fast pulse conductance modulation. Moreover, the synaptic properties are successfully mimicked, including paired-pulse facilitation, post-tetanic potentiation, and spike rate-dependent plasticity. In addition, pattern training with high tolerance to fault disturbance and variations is realized in the LBFO memristors array, endowing with highly accurate synaptic weights update capability. More importantly, the device can emulate essential characteristics of pain perception nociceptors with fast operating pulse and low threshold level, and a piezoresistive sensor is further introduced to integrate with LBFO memristor, realistically simulating the artificial pain perception function. Overall, the proposed device provides a promising avenue for the development of electronic skins, neurorobotics, and human–computer interaction technologies.