Neuromorphic computing and adaptive sensing: material challenges, advances and future prospects

Neuromorphic computing aims to mimic the brain's ultra-energy efficient computing capability by employing computational primitives inspired by biological neural networks at the materials, devices, circuits and systems level. At the heart of developing state of the art neuromorphic devices lies the need for a coordinated and consolidated effort in materials design. This symposium aims to bring together researchers to discuss state of the art and foster collaborations focusing on different aspects of materials engineering such as the development of innovative deposition methods, device integration, and testing, and advanced characterization.

Scope:

Neuromorphic accelerators promise extraordinary potential to drive the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning by augmenting existing silicon-based digital electronics. This burgeoning field of electronics and computer science research is poised to become a pivotal force in shaping the future economy. The limitations of neuromorphic computing primarily arise from hardware challenges, with many solutions rooted in material science. To advance the field of neuromorphic computing, the exploration of novel materials will be of key relevance for improving the power efficiency and scalability of the state-of-the-art devices in a disruptive manner. Despite extensive investigations into various materials over the past two decades, which include metal oxides, chalcogenides to 2D van der Waals materials, and organic materials, a group of definitive champion candidates is yet to emerge, underscoring the need for a more coordinated and consolidated effort in materials design.

This symposium aims to cover the latest advancements in research on various inorganic and organic materials, which exhibit strong potential for application in neuromorphic devices. The symposium shall offer an overview of the desired properties of different classes of materials, their processing, including structure and defect engineering to tune the memristive characteristics, design of novel materials, and their integration for designing neuromorphic devices and systems, including the in-memory computing capabilities, adaptivity, delocalized or spatially correlated features, generic classification and learning. This Symposium aspires to provide a roadmap for stakeholders such as industry, academia and funding agencies on research and development of nanoscale materials toward more efficient, cost-effective, and reliable memristive materials for a range of applications that span from traditional neuromorphic computing and efficient hardware-implemented neural networks to emulate biological neural network behavior and various concepts of neuromorphic sensing. In this symposium, we invite an interdisciplinary pool of experts developing technologies based on diverse material systems (e.g. inorganic, molecular, 2D), alongside device physicists, chemists, engineers, circuit designers, biologists, and mathematicians, to come together and discuss their progress. The cross-pollination of interdisciplinary ideas could catalyze unique collaborations, inspire young scientists, and address some of the most pressing challenges in neuromorphic computing.

Hot topics to be covered by the symposium:

• Smart, intelligent materials for sensing and data processing
• Artificial synapses and neurons
• Inorganic, molecular and 2D materials for neuromorphic computing
• Process development for scaling up new materials to functional platforms
• In-memory and in-sensor computing
• Bio-inspired materials
• AI assisted materials development for neuromorphic computing
• Interfacing between biological and artificial neuronal systems
• Co-advancement of device and algorithms for neuromorphic computing
• Materials development and materials integration for neuromorphic circuits
• Smart sensing and stimuli-responsive systems
• Materials & Devices: ReRAM, PCM, Ferroelectric, Spintronics, Organic, OECTs, Halide
• Perovskites, 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, Photonics.

List of invited speakers (confirmed):

• Marin Alexe (University of Warwick, UK)
• Regina Dittmann (Forschungszentrum Juelich, DE)
• T Venkatesan (University of Oklahoma, USA)
• Saptarshi Das (Penn State University, USA)
• Alwin Daus (University of Stuttgart, DE)
• Navakanta Bhat (Indian Institute of Science Bangalore)
• Christian Wenger (IHP, DE)
• Nazek El-Atab (KAUST, Saudi Arabia)
• Merlyne DeSouza (Sheffield Uni., UK)
• Milan Pesic (Applied Materials, USA)
• Thomas Kaempfe (IPMS Fraunhofer, DE)
• Herman Kohlstedt (Kiel University, DE)
• Ankit Kumar (IMEC, Belgium)
• Yang Chai (HongKong Polytechnic University)