Silicon is vital for its high abundance, vast production, and perfect compatibility with the well-established CMOS processing industry. Recently, artificially stacked layered 2D structures have gained tremendous attention via fine-tuning properties for electronic devices. This article presents neuromorphic devices based on silicon nanosheets that are chemically exfoliated and surface-modified, enabling self-assembly into hierarchical stacking structures. The device functionality can be switched between a unipolar memristor and a feasibly reset-able synaptic device. The memory function of the device is based on the charge storage in the partially oxidized SiNS stacks followed by the discharge activated by the electric field at the Au-Si Schottky interface, as verified in both experimental and theoretical means. This work further inspired elegant neuromorphic computation models for digit recognition and noise filtration. Ultimately, it brings silicon - the most established semiconductor - back to the forefront for next-generation computations.

Metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) structures have been widely used and extensively investigated for ultraviolet (UV) detection. However, traditional MSM structures suffer from large dark currents, narrow detection bands, and low collection efficiency. Optimizing these properties for broadband detection in MSM structures is essential for improving the performance and functionality in broader optoelectronics applications. We report a high-performance broadband graphene/thin silicon/graphene photodetector by realizing a synergistic combination of graphene and silicon absorption bandwidths from the x-ray to near-infrared regions. The sensitivity of the proposed photodetector in this spectral range is greatly enhanced. A high responsivity of 0.56 A/W, a high detectivity of 2.72 × 10¹¹ Jones, and a fast response time of 7.2 ns are achieved. Moreover, the real-time array imaging at broadband regions presented in this study can benefit from the independent pixel structures similar to the complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) architecture. This approach constitutes a reliable route toward a high-performance photodetector with prominent broad-spectrum response, high responsivity, and low noise. These results will motivate strategies to achieve high-performance, broadband image sensors, compatible for on-chip CMOS circuit technology that advances the development of next-generation graphene/silicon image sensors.