NOMFET
Encyclopedia
NOMFET is a nanoparticle organic memory field-effect transistor
. The transistor is designed to mimic the feature of the human synapse known as plasticity
, or the variation of the speed and strength of the signal going from neuron to neuron. The transistor uses gold
nano-particles of about 5—20 nm set with pentacene
to emulate the change in voltages and speed within the signal. The recent creation of this novel transistor gives prospects to better recreation of certain types of human cognitive processes, such as recognition and image processing
. When the NOMFET is eventually applied, it should be able to replicate the functionality of plasticity that previously required groups of several transistors to emulate and thus continue to decrease the size of the processor that would be attempting to utilize the computational advantages of a pseudo-synaptic operation. (See Moore's Law
)
Field-effect transistor
The field-effect transistor is a transistor that relies on an electric field to control the shape and hence the conductivity of a channel of one type of charge carrier in a semiconductor material. FETs are sometimes called unipolar transistors to contrast their single-carrier-type operation with...
. The transistor is designed to mimic the feature of the human synapse known as plasticity
Synaptic plasticity
In neuroscience, synaptic plasticity is the ability of the connection, or synapse, between two neurons to change in strength in response to either use or disuse of transmission over synaptic pathways. Plastic change also results from the alteration of the number of receptors located on a synapse...
, or the variation of the speed and strength of the signal going from neuron to neuron. The transistor uses gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
nano-particles of about 5—20 nm set with pentacene
Pentacene
Pentacene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon consisting of five linearly-fused benzene rings. This highly conjugated compound is an organic semiconductor. The compound generates excitons upon absorption of ultra-violet or visible light; this makes it very sensitive to oxidation...
to emulate the change in voltages and speed within the signal. The recent creation of this novel transistor gives prospects to better recreation of certain types of human cognitive processes, such as recognition and image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
. When the NOMFET is eventually applied, it should be able to replicate the functionality of plasticity that previously required groups of several transistors to emulate and thus continue to decrease the size of the processor that would be attempting to utilize the computational advantages of a pseudo-synaptic operation. (See Moore's Law
Moore's Law
Moore's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware: the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years....
)