Nanocomposites of ferrocenyl-modified gold clusters and semiconducting polymers that integrate field-effect transistor and flash memory in a single neuromorphic device

Abstract: We demonstrate that electroactive thin films incorporating semiconducting polymers and deterministic functionalized gold nanoclusters (ncAu25) lead to integration of the functions of resistive memory device and field-effect transistor (FETs) within a single component (mem-transistor) in a neuromorphic system. Memristor functions originate from ferrocenyl-modified gold nanoclusters (ncAu25-Fc) embedded in polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and devices optimized for maximum 1/0 'flash' memory effect are found to contain 15 wt% ncAu25-Fc. Integrated memristor and neuromorphic functions are obtained by replacing PMMA with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) in the active layer, from which transistor effects are derived. Based on the energy band diagrams of ncAu25, PMMA and P3HT, percolation theory is used to explain the memristor 1/0 on/off ratio as a function of ncAu25-Fc concentration. The use of ncAu25-Fc with charge-tunable, ferrocene-modified, ligands is critical toward better cluster-polymer interfaces. Our work shows that nanostructures of polymers and metalorganic frameworks bear strong potential towards neuromorphic devices and the circuital simplification of data storage technology.