Cerebellum-inspired memtransistor; fungal mycelium PCB; doping organic semiconductors.
Researchers from Northwestern University and University of Illinois at Chicago developed a cerebellum-inspired memtransistor for anomaly detection that ignores expected inputs and rapidly detects unexpected events while using less energy than conventional AI.
“Today’s AI is remarkably good at recognizing patterns, but it often spends enormous amounts of computing power to continuously analyze streams of data—even when nothing has changed,” said Mark Hersam, a professor of materials science and engineering, medicine, and chemistry at Northwestern, in a press release. “Therefore, it burns energy on unnecessary analysis.”
Based on molybdenum disulfide, the device uses an asymmetric transistor architecture in which one electrode partially overlapped the semiconductor through a thin insulating layer. Reversing the direction of the applied voltage switches the memtransistor between excitatory mode, where the synapse gradually strengthens its response as signals continue, and inhibitory mode, which responds strongly at first before fading away.
One potential application is wearable heart monitors that could detect irregular heartbeats. The device was tested using a series of electrocardiogram recordings that included both normal heart rhythms and arrhythmias. “Our cerebellum-inspired memtransistor detected an irregular heartbeat within a fraction of a second, before the heartbeat even ended. That is more than twice as fast as conventional AI,” said Hersam. “We have demonstrated one part of the cerebellum neural circuit, but there is more that we have not yet emulated. We intend to continue going down this path to mimic more and more of this complicated system.” [1]
Researchers from TU Bergakademie Freiberg and University of Stuttgart proposed a compostable PCB alternative that is made from the mycelium of the Aspergillus niger fungus, a byproduct of industrial citric acid production.
“In laboratory tests, the material from fungal mycelium shows high mechanical properties and good heat stability,” said Nina Oehlsen, a doctoral student at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, in a statement. “Although the electrical properties are still below those of standard PCBs, fungal mycelium is sufficient for prototype or low-frequency applications – such as environmental sensors, consumer goods, and toys.”
The fungal mycelium biomass was processed via molding and drying into a ~0.5 cm thick plate with a density of 1.23 g/cm³, comparable to the density of conventional PCBs. Using direct ink writing or a standard etching process and manual soldering, the researchers were able to deposit electronic components directly onto the fungal plates.
The circuit board itself is fully biodegradable, and the transistors deposited on it could be functionally recovered, according to Linus Stegbauer, junior professor for biogenic technical materials at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. “We have created a high-quality, functional material from an industrial waste product – without additional fossil raw materials. In comparison to a conventional circuit board, fungal mycelium has up to 56% lower CO2 footprint and can be easily and safely dissolved in water at the end of its life.” [2]
Researchers from Hanyang University and University of Oxford determined that solvent polarity can regulate dopant reactivity during processing, resulting in finely tunable, efficient, and stable doping across multiple organic semiconductors.
The researchers focused on a Lewis-paired dopant composed of two molecules, DDQ and BCF, and examined how it behaved in six solvents with different polarities. Using spectroscopy and advanced computational modeling, they found that in highly polar solvents, BCF gets captured by solvent molecules, preventing the dopant pair from forming efficiently when the solution is applied to the semiconductor. In solvents with moderate polarity, such as ethyl acetate, the capture was short-lived. As the mildly polar solvent evaporates during processing, BCF is gradually released and free to pair up with DDQ, enabling fine-tuned control over doping without damaging the semiconductor film or altering the dopant chemistry.
Using ethyl acetate as the processing solvent, the team achieved finely tunable doping across multiple organic semiconductors, resulting in materials with a high thermoelectric power factor and Seebeck coefficient, which describe how effectively a material converts heat into electrical energy.
“Our simple solvent-mediated strategy provides a new way to optimize semiconductor doping without designing entirely new dopant molecules. This approach could pave the way to high-performance and stable organic thermoelectric materials for self-powered wearable devices and low-power sensors,” said Jaeyoung Jang, a professor at Hanyang University, in a press release. “We believe this concept will influence the design of future organic electronic materials and help accelerate the development of next-generation flexible and sustainable electronics.” [3]
[1] MA. Kang, S.T. Brown, N. Jayasinghe, et al. Cerebellum-inspired memtransistors enable emergent differentiation for hardware-efficient novelty detection. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75212-4
[2] N. Oehlsen, S. B. Wachsmann, D. Fauser, et al. From biotechnological residues to biodegradable printed circuit boards: Aspergillus niger mycelium as a structural support material. Cleaner Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clema.2026.100416
[3] S. B. Kim, E. H. Suh, T. S. Lee, et al. “Solvent-Mediated Reactivity Control of Lewis-Paired Dopants as a Versatile Strategy for Tunable and Stable Doping of Organic Semiconductors.” Advanced Materials (2026): e22233. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202522233
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