An Organic Retinomorphic Sensor

Abstract

Inspired by the way retinal cells respond to light, retinomorphic sensors are hoped to enable rapid identification of moving objects. Unlike conventional optical sensors, these sensors are designed to produce a signal in response to changes in illumination but not under constant illumination. This report represents the first demonstration of a retinomorphic sensor employing organic semiconductors as the absorber. The sensor exhibits stability under constant measurement conditions up to a period of 1 h and characteristic decay times that are tunable through a choice of external resistor, demonstrated down to 10 μs, roughly 10 000 times faster than previous devices.