Stochastic resonance in MoS2 photodetector

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 4406 - 11
• Main Authors: Dodda, Akhil, Oberoi, Aaryan, Sebastian, Amritanand, Choudhury, Tanushree H., Redwing, Joan M., Das, Saptarshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.09.2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/135; 147/3; 639/301/357/1018; 639/624/1075/1083; Circuits; Communications systems; Data processing; Electronic circuits; Energy expenditure; Humanities and Social Sciences; Information processing; Light emitting diodes; Luminous intensity; Molybdenum disulfide; Monolayers; multidisciplinary; Noise; Optical communication; Photometers; Random noise; Resonance; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensory integration; Stochastic resonance
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18195-0

In this article, we adopt a radical approach for next generation ultra-low-power sensor design by embracing the evolutionary success of animals with extraordinary sensory information processing capabilities that allow them to survive in extreme and resource constrained environments. Stochastic resonance (SR) is one of those astounding phenomena, where noise, which is considered detrimental for electronic circuits and communication systems, plays a constructive role in the detection of weak signals. Here, we show SR in a photodetector based on monolayer MoS 2 for detecting ultra-low-intensity subthreshold optical signals from a distant light emitting diode (LED). We demonstrate that weak periodic LED signals, which are otherwise undetectable, can be detected by a MoS 2 photodetector in the presence of a finite and optimum amount of white Gaussian noise at a frugal energy expenditure of few tens of nano-Joules. The concept of SR is generic in nature and can be extended beyond photodetector to any other sensors. Here, the authors take advantage of stochastic resonance in a photodetector based on monolayer MoS 2 for measuring otherwise undetectable, ultra-low-intensity, subthreshold optical signals from a distant light emitting diode in the presence of a finite and optimum amount of white Gaussian noise.