Researchers have built an electronic long-term memory cell, which mirrors the brain’s ability to simultaneously process and store multiple strands of information.
The discovery was recently published by RMIT University researchers in the prestigious materials science journal Advanced Functional Materials.
The development, achieved at the MicroNano Research Facility (MNRF), provides insight to imitating key electronic aspects of the human brain – a vital step towards creating a bionic brain – which could help unlock successful treatments for common neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
“This is the closest we have come to creating a brain-like system with memory that learns and stores analog information and is quick at retrieving this stored information,” says Project leader Dr Sharath Sriram, co-leader of the RMIT Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group
According to him, the ability to create highly dense and ultra-fast analog memory cells paves the way for imitating highly sophisticated biological neural networks.
The research builds on RMIT’s previous discovery where ultra-fast nano-scale memories were developed using a functional oxide material in the form of an ultra-thin film - 10,000 times thinner than a human hair.
“Think of an old camera which could only take pictures in black and white. The same analogy applies here, rather than just black and white memories we now have memories in full color with shade, light and texture, it is a major step,” says Dr Hussein Nili, lead author of the study, underscoring the significance of the multi-state cell in storing and processing information.
The new approach not only allows storing much more information than conventional binary memories, but also facilitates the ability to remember and retain previous information.
“We have now introduced controlled faults or defects in the oxide material along with the addition of metallic atoms, which unleashes the full potential of the ‘memristive’ effect – where the memory element's behaviour is dependent on its past experiences,” adds Dr Nili.
Nano-scale memories are precursors to the storage components of the complex artificial intelligence network needed to develop a bionic brain.
Dr Nili says the research had myriad practical applications including the potential for scientists to replicate the human brain outside of the body.
“If you could replicate a brain outside the body, it would minimise ethical issues involved in treating and experimenting on the brain which can lead to better understanding of neurological conditions”.
