Demonstration of Stochastic Resonance, Population Coding, and Population Voting Using Artificial MoS2 Based Synapses.

Fast detection of weak signals at low energy expenditure is a challenging but inescapable task for the evolutionary success of animals that survive in resource constrained environments. This task is accomplished by the sensory nervous system by exploiting the synergy between three astounding neural phenomena, namely, stochastic resonance (SR), population coding (PC), and population voting (PV). In SR, the constructive role of synaptic noise is exploited for the detection of otherwise invisible signals. In PC, the redundancy in neural population is exploited to reduce the detection latency. Finally, PV ensures unambiguous signal detection even in the presence of excessive noise. Here we adopt a similar strategies and experimentally demonstrate how a population of stochastic artificial neurons based on monolayer MoS2 field effect transistors (FETs) can use an optimum amount of white Gaussian noise and population voting to detect invisible signals at a frugal energy expenditure (∼10s of nano-Joules). Our findings can aid remote sensing in the emerging era of the Internet of things (IoT) that thrive on energy efficiency.