Multi-Valued Logic Structures for Optical Biocomputing—Photonically Triggered Bio-Organic Field-Effect Transistors

Here, a photonic bio-organic multiphase structure is proposed for thin-film electronic nets integrated with multilevel logic elements for multilevel computing via reconfigurable photonic band gaps in chiral biomaterials. Inspired by an artificial intelligence system having efficient information integration and computing capabilities, the photon active dielectric layer of the chiral nematic cellulose nanocrystal is coupled to a printed p-type and n-type organic semiconductor as a bifunctional logic element. These adaptive logic elements can trigger customized quantized electrical output signals under light having different photon energies and with different photonic band gaps in active dielectric layers. A bifunctional structure enables complex memory operations due to repeated changes in photonic band gaps controlled by expansion and contraction of chiral nematic pitches and photon energy controlled by light absorption of complementary organic semiconductor layers. This conceptual demonstration of a multivalued logic structure facilitates an optical calculation system for low-power optical information processing integrated into an interface between a human and a machine.