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As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the field-effect transistor, the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) Foothill Chapter is honored to welcome Professor Larry Cheng from Oregon State University for a seminar on one of the most exciting emerging directions in semiconductor devices—phototransistor memory.
Phototransistors have long served as highly sensitive light detectors. Today, advances in semiconductor materials and device physics are enabling these devices to integrate sensing, memory, and computation within a single platform. In this seminar, Professor Cheng will introduce the operating principles of hybrid organic-oxide phototransistors and discuss recent advances in programmable phototransistor memories with tunable retention, adaptive forgetting, and neuromorphic functionalities. He will also highlight how these innovations are opening new opportunities for in-sensor intelligence and next-generation computing architectures.
Whether your interests are in semiconductor devices, materials engineering, AI hardware, or emerging computing technologies, this seminar offers an excellent opportunity to learn about a rapidly evolving research frontier from a leading expert in the field.
Speaker(s): Prof. Larry Cheng
Agenda:
Seminar Title: Phototransistor Memory: Materials, Device Physics, and In-Sensor Processing
Speaker: Larry Cheng, Ph.D.
Phototransistors have traditionally been developed as highly sensitive light detectors. This talk will discuss how advances in materials engineering and semiconductor device physics are expanding their potential functions beyond photodetection to include sensing, memory, and basic information processing. Professor Cheng will first discuss the physical mechanisms governing the operation and memory behavior of hybrid organic–oxide phototransistors. He will then present recent advances in programmable phototransistor memories, in which electrical control of trapped charge enables tunable memory retention, adaptive forgetting, and selected neuromodulator-inspired functions. Finally, he will discuss the potential use of these device capabilities for in-sensor and temporal information processing by taking advantage of programmable physical dynamics.
This seminar will provide students, researchers, and industry professionals with an overview of the connections among semiconductor materials, device physics, intelligent sensing, and emerging computing technologies. Attendees will gain a better understanding of how phototransistor memory may contribute to future sensing and neuromorphic computing systems.
Format:
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Talk: ~40 minutes
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Q&A and Discussion: ~15 minutes
References:
(https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-brain-phototransistor-ai-energy.html)
Advanced Functional Materials, doi.org/10.1002/adfm.75942
Advanced Optical Materials, doi.org/10.1002/adom.202500081
Journal of Materials Chemistry C, doi.org/10.1039/d5tc04439a
Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/566556
