Coupled relaxation VO2 Nanowire Oscillators for neuromorphic devices – CIRANO

In a rich scientific context on the development of neuro-inspired circuits, the CIRANO project is based on one of the most promising solutions explored in this field, namely the realization of coupled relaxation oscillator networks whose operating logic is inspired by the nervous system.
The main objective of the project is the experimental demonstration of the synchronization of a coupled oscillator network based on vanadium dioxide nanowires exploiting the original properties and the quasi-perfect structure of this nanomaterial for its integration in neuromorphic devices.
The operation of these devices relies on the insulator/metal transition of these strongly correlated electron oxides. This transition is characterized by an abrupt change in device resistance (4 to 5 orders of magnitude) on very short time scales (from fs to ns).
The use of vanadium dioxide for such applications has been validated very recently in the form of thin films but this is hampered by the intrinsic defects of nanometric devices designed with such films and limits the number of oscillators that can be coupled to three. The efficiency of these neuromorphic devices is directly related to the number of couplings that can be achieved.
In this project, we propose the use of vanadium dioxide nanowires to avoid this pitfall. Their structure being single crystal, having few defects and their geometry being parallelepipedic, these nanowires are particularly suitable for the realization of arrays of similar oscillators.
To achieve these objectives, the consortium involved in CIRANO is composed of researchers from laboratories attached to three CNRS institutes (XLIM, IRCER and IJCLab) with complementary expertise in the various fields targeted by this project.