Overview
- Northwestern researchers report in Nature Nanotechnology that flexible printed devices sent neuron-like spikes that triggered responses in slices of mouse cerebellum.
- The team used aerosol jet printing to deposit inks made from molybdenum disulfide as the semiconductor and graphene as the conductor onto a thin polymer film.
- By leaving some polymer in place and driving partial decomposition during operation, the devices formed narrow conductive filaments that yield memristive, neuron-like spiking.
- The artificial neurons produced single pulses, continuous firing, and bursting patterns on biological timescales, which let nearby neurons fire in response.
- The authors frame the work as an ex vivo proof of concept toward brain–machine interfaces and neuroprosthetics, with the additive printing approach also pointing to leaner, lower-power neuromorphic hardware.