Exploiting spatial ionic dynamics in solid-state organic electrochemical transistors for multi-tactile sensing and processing

• Main Authors: Hou, Kunqi, Chen, Shuai, John, Rohit Abraham, He, Qiang, Zhou, Zhongliang, Mathews, Nripan, Lew, Wen Siang, Leong, Wei Lin
• Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2025
• Subjects: Engineering; Ion modulation; Organic electrochemical transistor
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/182114
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The human nervous system inspires the next generation of sensory and communication systems for robotics, human-machine interfaces (HMIs), biomedical applications, and artificial intelligence. Neuromorphic approaches address processing challenges; however, the vast number of sensors and their large-scale distribution complicate analog data manipulation. Conventional digital multiplexers are limited by complex circuit architecture and high supply voltage. Large sensory arrays further complicate wiring. An 'in-electrolyte computing' platform is presented by integrating organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) with a solid-state polymer electrolyte. These devices use synapse-like signal transport and spatially dependent bulk ionic doping, achieving over 400 times modulation in channel conductance, allowing discrimination of locally random-access events without peripheral circuitry or address assignment. It demonstrates information processing from 12 tactile sensors with a single OECT output, showing clear advantages in circuit simplicity over existing all-electronic, all-digital implementations. This self-multiplexer platform offers exciting prospects for circuit-free integration with sensory arrays for high-quality, large-volume analog signal processing.