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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 102 » Issue 22
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 226802 (2009) [4 pages]

Noise-Controlled Signal Transmission in a Multithread Semiconductor Neuron

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A. Samardak and A. Nogaret*
Department of Physics, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom

N. B. Janson
School of Mathematics, University of Loughborough, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom

A. G. Balanov
Department of Physics, University of Loughborough, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom

I. Farrer and D. A. Ritchie
Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom

Received 11 January 2009; published 5 June 2009

We report on stochastic effects in a new class of semiconductor structures that accurately imitate the electrical activity of biological neurons. In these devices, electrons and holes play the role of K+ and Na+ ions that give the action potentials in real neurons. The structure propagates and delays electrical pulses via a web of spatially distributed transmission lines. We study the transmission of a periodic signal through a noisy semiconductor neuron. Using experimental data and a theoretical model we demonstrate that depending on the noise level and the amplitude of the useful signal, transmission is enhanced by a variety of nonlinear phenomena, such as stochastic resonance, coherence resonance, and stochastic synchronization.

© 2009 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.226802
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.226802
PACS:
85.35.−p, 05.45.-a, 87.85.−d

*A.R.Nogaret@bath.ac.uk

 
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