Effect of nonlinearity induced by atomic switch in Ag/Ag2S nanoparticles on performance of in-materio reservoir computing

A random network of Ag/Ag2S nanoparticles (NPs) was used as a physical system in reservoir computing (RC) because the network has nonlinear and dynamical characteristics. Ag/Ag2S NPs were synthesized by the modified Brust–Schiffrin method. Atomic switching among the NPs caused nonlinear dynamical behavior of the random network. The Fourier transform of output signals indicated that the generated harmonics were far higher with a larger amplitude of the input sine wave because the atomic switching occurred only at high bias voltages. Higher accuracy was achieved in the Boolean logic RC task because of the nonlinearity originating from switching. These findings suggest that nonlinearity plays a fundamental role in the design and implementation of RC devices.