Multimodal Artificial Synapses for Neuromorphic Application

The rapid development of neuromorphic computing has led to widespread investigation of artificial synapses. These synapses can perform parallel in-memory computing functions while transmitting signals, enabling low-energy and fast artificial intelligence. Robots are the most ideal endpoint for the application of artificial intelligence. In the human nervous system, there are different types of synapses for sensory input, allowing for signal preprocessing at the receiving end. Therefore, the development of anthropomorphic intelligent robots requires not only an artificial intelligence system as the brain but also the combination of multimodal artificial synapses for multisensory sensing, including visual, tactile, olfactory, auditory, and taste. This article reviews the working mechanisms of artificial synapses with different stimulation and response modalities, and presents their use in various neuromorphic tasks. We aim to provide researchers in this frontier field with a comprehensive understanding of multimodal artificial synapses.