Bio-inspired imaging device with in-sensor visual adaptation

A bio-inspired imaging device for imaging an image with in-sensor visual adaptation comprising:

• an imaging sensor comprising a plurality of phototransistors, an individual phototransistor for converting a light beam of the image to an electrical signal being a field-effect transistor (FET) comprising:
• a source, a drain and a gate;
• and
• a channel layer connecting the source and the drain, the channel layer being an atomically-thin layer composed of a two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor material for generating charge carriers upon irradiation by the light beam in forming the electrical signal, wherein the channel layer is formed with defects trap states for trapping a portion of the charge carriers such that intensity information of the light beam is memorized by the defects trap states, and wherein the channel layer is positioned in proximity to the gate such that a gate-source voltage between the gate and the source directs the defects trap states to de-trap the trapped portion of the charge carriers over time or to further trap an additional portion of the charge carriers over time, allowing the individual phototransistor to exhibit a time-dependent excitation or inhibition effect on the electrical signal to thereby enable the imaging sensor to mimic visual adaptation of human vision in imaging the image;
• one or more gate drivers for providing respective gate-source voltages to the plurality of phototransistors;
• one or more analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for digitizing respective electrical signals received from the plurality of phototransistors to form a plurality of digitized electrical signals;
• and
• one or more digital computing processors configured to:
• determine the respective gate-source voltages according to the plurality of digitized electrical signals;
• and
• control the one or more gate drivers to provide the determined respective gate-source voltages to the plurality of phototransistors for causing the imaging sensor to mimic visual adaptation in imaging the image.