Reusing Temporal‐Domain Bipolar Pulses for Convolution Processing and Encryption in a Single Van der Waals Heterostructure

ABSTRACT Edge vision systems frequently require the seamless integration of sensing, processing, and encryption within a unified hardware platform, yet conventional approaches often rely on dynamic electrical gating or physically separated modules, which may introduce potential side‐channel risks and expose intermediate data. Here, we demonstrate that a PtSe 2 /MoTe 2 van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure under fixed gate bias produces a bipolar pulsed photocurrent within each optical cycle through concurrent photovoltaic (PV) and photothermoelectric (PTE) effects. Critically, this temporal‐domain transient signal simultaneously serves two distinct functions. Its signed components act as hardware‐measured weights for software‐configurable multispectral image processing, while these same weights provide a hardware‐derived seed material for key generation, a concept termed “kernel‐as‐key.” Using this unified framework, we implement a simulation of multispectral convolution processing (MCP) and data encryption without requiring dynamic electrical reconfiguration. This work introduces a temporal‐domain photoresponse scheme that offers a promising hardware primitive, providing a possible pathway toward enhanced security in edge vision architectures by reducing the need for dynamic electrical reconfiguration and minimizing the exposure of intermediate processed data.