An image of the brain-inspired material
A breakthrough discovery at University of Limerick has revealed for the first time that unconventional brain-like computing at the tiniest scale of atoms and molecules is possible.
Researchers at University of Limerick’s Bernal Institute worked with an international team of scientists to create a new type of organic material that learns from its past behaviour.
The discovery of the ‘dynamic molecular switch’ that emulate synaptic behaviour is revealed in a new study in the prestigious international journal Nature Materials.
The study was led by Damien Thompson, Professor of Molecular Modelling in UL’s Department of Physics and Director of SSPC, the UL-hosted Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals, together with Christian Nijhuis at the Centre for Molecules and Brain-Inspired Nano Systems in University of Twente and Enrique del Barco from University of Central Florida.
Working during lockdowns, the team developed a two-nanometre thick layer of molecules, which is 50,000 times thinner than a strand of hair and remembers its history as electrons pass through it.
Professor Thompson explained that the “switching probability and the values of the on/off states continually change in the molecular material, which provides a disruptive new alternative to conventional silicon-based digital switches that can only ever be either on or off”.
The newly discovered dynamic organic switch displays all the mathematical logic functions necessary for deep learning, successfully emulating Pavlovian ‘call and response’ synaptic brain-like behaviour.
The researchers demonstrated the new materials properties using extensive experimental characterisation and electrical measurements supported by multi-scale modelling spanning from predictive modelling of the molecular structures at the quantum level to analytical mathematical modelling of the electrical data.
To emulate the dynamical behaviour of synapses at the molecular level, the researchers combined fast electron transfer (akin to action potentials and fast depolarization processes in biology) with slow proton coupling limited by diffusion (akin to the role of biological calcium ions or neurotransmitters).
Since the electron transfer and proton coupling steps inside the material occur at very different time scales, the transformation can emulate the plastic behaviour of synapse neuronal junctions, Pavlovian learning, and all logic gates for digital circuits, simply by changing the applied voltage and the duration of voltage pulses during the synthesis, they explained.
“This was a great lockdown project, with Chris, Enrique and I pushing each other through zoom meetings and gargantuan email threads to bring our teams combined skills in materials modelling, synthesis and characterisation to the point where we could demonstrate these new brain-like computing properties,” explained Professor Thompson.
“The community has long known that silicon technology works completely differently to how our brains work and so we used new types of electronic materials based on soft molecules to emulate brain-like computing networks.”
The researchers explained that the method can in the future be applied to dynamic molecular systems driven by other stimuli such as light and coupled to different types of dynamic covalent bond formation.
This breakthrough opens up a whole new range of adaptive and reconfigurable systems, creating new opportunities in sustainable and green chemistry, from more efficient flow chemistry production of drug products and other value-added chemicals to development of new organic materials for high density computing and memory storage in big data centres.
“This is just the start. We are already busy expanding this next generation of intelligent molecular materials, which is enabling development of sustainable alternative technologies to tackle grand challenges in energy, environment, and health,” explained Professor Thompson.
Professor Norelee Kennedy, Vice President Research at UL, said: “Our researchers are continuously finding new ways of making more effective, more sustainable materials. This latest finding is very exciting, demonstrating the reach and ambition of our international collaborations and showcasing our world-leading ability at UL to encode useful properties into organic materials.”
Original Article: University of Limerick discovery reveals ‘brain-like computing’ at molecular level is possible
More from: University of Limerick | University of Twente | University of Central Florida
The Latest Updates from Bing News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Brain-like computing
- Revolutionary AI device utilizes few-molecule reservoir computing for blood glucose prediction
A collaborative research team from NIMS and Tokyo University of Science has successfully developed a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) device that executes brain-like information processing ...
- High-precision blood glucose level prediction achieved by few-molecule reservoir computing
A collaborative research team from NIMS and Tokyo University of Science has successfully developed an artificial intelligence (AI) device that executes brain-like information processing through ...
- Scientists use salt, water to prove human brain-like computer can exist
Currently our computers are nowhere near as powerful or sophisticated as the brain. Furthermore, the human brain doesn’t need much in terms of materials to carry out a superhuman level of commands at ...
- First experimental proof for brain-like computer with water and salt
Theoretical physicists at Utrecht University, together with experimental physicists at Sogang University in South Korea, have succeeded in building an artificial synapse. This synapse works with water ...
- Quantum Computers Can Now Run Powerful AI That Works like the Brain
Seven years later the transformer, which enables ChatGPT and other chatbots to quickly generate sophisticated outputs in reply to user prompts, is the dynamo powering the ongoing AI boom. As ...
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Intelligent molecular materials
- Revolutionary AI device utilizes few-molecule reservoir computing for blood glucose prediction
A collaborative research team from NIMS and Tokyo University of Science has successfully developed a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) device that executes brain-like information processing ...
- High-precision blood glucose level prediction achieved by few-molecule reservoir computing
A collaborative research team from NIMS and Tokyo University of Science has successfully developed an artificial intelligence (AI) device that executes brain-like information processing through ...
- New circuit boards can be repeatedly recycled
A recent United Nations report found that the world generated 137 billion pounds of electronic waste in 2022, an 82% increase from 2010. Yet less than a quarter of 2022's e-waste was recycled. While ...
- ‘Self-driving labs.’ Scientists at PNNL explore how AI can help transform research
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are exploring the frontiers of artificial intelligence, or AI, to quickly find solutions that can transform these fields ...
- Scientists Puzzled by 'Rule of Four' Pattern Found in Most Materials
A bizarre "Rule of Four" has been identified in the basic structure of the majority of inorganic materials—and scientists are stumped as to why. The pattern is found in the so-called "unit cell" of ...