Miao Shen, Tianchen Zhao, Dan Cai, Xin Zhou, Yang Wang, Yadong Jiang, Deen Gu
2026.3.16ACS Applied Electronic Materials
Abstract
Intelligent vision applications increasingly require sensors that not only capture optical scenes with high speed and sensitivity but also perform in-sensor processing and memory. Neuromorphic vision sensors (NVSs) that monolithically integrate photodetection and synaptic functions within a single device have thus emerged as a promising route toward low-redundancy, low-latency visual processing. Although significant progress has been made, existing NVSs still leave considerable room for improvement in reducing residual redundancy and achieving higher response speed and sensitivity. Here, we report a reconfigurable two-terminal vertical neuromorphic vision sensor (NVS) based on a PBDB-T:ITIC-Th organic heterojunction, in which the thickness of the ZnO hole-blocking layer is engineered to balance trap-mediated synaptic dynamics and high-performance photodetection. In photodetector mode, the NVS achieves an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 78%, a detectivity ( D* ) of 1.2 × 10 13 Jones, and fast rise/fall times of 7.5/9.6 μs. Additionally, the device supports two reconfigurable synaptic operation modes, enabling both event-driven processing and conventional synaptic behavior. System-level simulations further demonstrate that both synaptic modes enable high-accuracy vehicle recognition via a convolutional neural network (CNN), whereas the event-driven mode efficiently extracts dynamic contours under strong background illumination. The results could provide a compact, low-latency, and event-driven hardware platform for next-generation neuromorphic vision and intelligent sensing systems in complex environments.
Citation format
SHEN, Miao, et al. A reconfigurable organic neuromorphic vision sensor integrating photodetection with event-driven and classic synaptic behaviors. ACS Applied Electronic Materials, 2026.