Nanowire FET

An integrated pulse integrator and pulse emitter for a light-based neural network comprising:

• a field effect transistor comprising:
• a first electrode;
• a second electrode;
• a nano-scale channel between the first electrode and the second electrode;
• wherein the nano-scale channel has a first state in which an electrical impedance of the nano-scale channel is relatively high and a second state in which the electrical impedance of the nano-scale channel is relatively low;
• dielectric adjacent the nano-scale channel;
• and
• a gate electrode adjacent the dielectric configured to control a threshold;
• and
• wherein the nano-scale channel is configured to switch between the first state and the second state in response to an application quantum of photo-stimulus above a threshold number of quanta of photo-stimulus, and wherein the gate electrode is configured to switch-back the nano-scale channel to the first state in response to a temporarily applied reset signal.

A light-based neural network comprising:

• a plurality of neurons each of which comprises a field effect transistor comprising:
• a first electrode;
• a second electrode;
• a nano-scale channel between the first electrode and the second electrode
• wherein the nano-scale channel has a first high impedance state in which an electrical impedance of the nano-scale channel is relatively high and a second low impedance state in which the electrical impedance of the nano-scale channel is relatively low;
• dielectric adjacent the nano-scale channel;
• and
• a gate electrode adjacent the dielectric, configured to control a threshold number of quanta of photo-stimulus;
• wherein the nano-scale is configured to switch between the first state and the second state in response to an application of a quantum of photo-stimulus above the threshold number of quanta of photo-stimulus,
• a plurality of light emitting devices, each of which is associated with a neuron;
• and
• a controller configured to control separately voltages applied to the gate electrodes of the plurality of neurons.

A method comprising:

• using a controlled number of quanta of photo-stimulus to switch a field effect transistor from a high impedance state to a low impedance state;
• using the field effect transistor in the low impedance state to generate an output electric current;
• and
• applying a voltage to a gate electrode of the field effect transistor to control the threshold number of photo-stimulus required to switch the field effect transistor from the high impedance state to the low impedance state.