Quasi-Hodgkin-Huxley Neurons with Leaky Integrate-and-Fire Functions Physically Realized with Memristive Devices

Artificial neurons with functions such as leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) and spike output are essential for brain-inspired computation with high efficiency. However, previously implemented artificial neurons, e.g., Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) neurons, integrate-and-fire (IF) neurons, and LIF neurons, only achieve partial functionality of a biological neuron. In this work, quasi-HH neurons with leaky integrate-and-fire functions are physically demonstrated with a volatile memristive device, W/WO₃ /poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate/Pt. The resistive switching behavior of the device can be attributed to the migration of protons, unlike the migration of oxygen ions normally involved in oxide-based memristors. With multifunctions similar to their biological counterparts, quasi-HH neurons are advantageous over the reported HH and LIF neurons, demonstrating their potential for neuromorphic computing applications.