Electronic, pulse-mode neural circuits based on a novel semiconductor device

An approach to the hardware implementation of artificial, electronic pulse-mode neural circuits based on a new semiconductor device called a Multi-Quantum Well Injection Mode Device (MQW-IMD) is proposed. Utilizing the device's negative differential resistance in its current-voltage characteristic, the device can be made to switch periodically between a low conductance off state and high conductance on state generating a pulse mode output, which is analogous to that of the axon hillock or trigger zone of a biological neuron exhibiting a threshold behavior and nonlinear firing frequency dependence on the input voltage. An input circuit can be added and configured to accept multiple, pulsed inputs (both excitatory and inhibitory), whose signals can be integrated in time, individually weighted and summed to determine the output frequency analogous to that of the synaptic and dendritic structure of the biological neuron.