End-to-End Neuron-inspired Signal Transduction Using Organic Electrochemical Transistors

Jin-Yao Wang; Yue Tian; Yi-Fan Xie; Miao Cheng; Chang-Rui Liu; Jing-Yun Chu; Guo-Qing Xie; Neng Gao; Hao-Fan He; Le-Jing Huang; Ling-Fei Wang; Meng-Meng Li

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3703-9

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End-to-End Neuron-inspired Signal Transduction Using Organic Electrochemical Transistors

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-08-31

- End-to-End Neuron-inspired Signal Transduction Using Organic Electrochemical Transistors
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 9, Pages: 2953-2962(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
  b.School of Integrated Circuits, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  c.State Key Laboratory of Fabrication Technologies for Integrated Circuits, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
- Author bio：
  
  limengmeng@ucas.ac.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3703-9
  CLC：
- Received：26 February 2026，
  
  Accepted：04 April 2026，
  
  Online First：09 July 2026，
  
  Published：05 September 2026
- Accepted：
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Wang, J. Y.; Tian, Y.; Xie, Y. F.; Cheng, M.; Liu, C. R.; Chu, J. Y.; Xie, G. Q.; Gao, N.; He, H. F.; Huang, L. J.; Wang, L. F.; Li, M. M. End-to-end neuron-inspired signal transduction using organic electrochemical transistors. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2953–2962

Jin-Yao Wang, Yue Tian, Yi-Fan Xie, et al. End-to-End Neuron-inspired Signal Transduction Using Organic Electrochemical Transistors[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(9): 2953-2962.
Wang, J. Y.; Tian, Y.; Xie, Y. F.; Cheng, M.; Liu, C. R.; Chu, J. Y.; Xie, G. Q.; Gao, N.; He, H. F.; Huang, L. J.; Wang, L. F.; Li, M. M. End-to-end neuron-inspired signal transduction using organic electrochemical transistors. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2953–2962 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3703-9.

Jin-Yao Wang, Yue Tian, Yi-Fan Xie, et al. End-to-End Neuron-inspired Signal Transduction Using Organic Electrochemical Transistors[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(9): 2953-2962. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3703-9.

摘要

This work demonstrates an end-to-end neuron-inspired signal pathway built entirely from organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs)

where a photosensitive receptor directly drives axonal spiking and synaptic plasticity through analog hardware coupling without algorithmic processing.

Abstract

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) enable high-performance bioelectronics through their efficient ionic-electronic coupling

yet realizing a complete neuronal signal pathway that transduces environmental stimuli into spiking activity and synaptic memory remains a persistent system-level challenge. Here we demonstrate a neuron-inspired signal transduction pathway constructed entirely from OECTs

comprising a signal receptor

a spiking axonal module and a synaptic memory unit. System-level functionality is examined using a hardware-in-the-loop configuration based on direct analog signal transfer. The raw output photocurrent generated by the receptor drives the axonal oscillator

and the resulting voltage spikes subsequently modulate the synaptic device

without any algorithmic scaling or software-based amplification. This direct-drive regime preserves physical signal causality and reveals that the intrinsic signal levels of each functional block are naturally matched to the input requirements of the subsequent stage. Experimentally

receptor-induced spiking activity reliably gives rise to short-term synaptic plasticity under these unassisted conditions. Together

these results demonstrate the inherent inter-stage electrical compatibility of OECT-based devices and establish a rigorous experimental foundation for the future monolithic integration of fully organic neuromorphic systems.

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