  The understanding of neural networks as neuron-synapse binaries has been the
foundation of neuroscience, and therefore, the emerging neuromorphic computing
technology that takes inspiration from the brain. This dogma, however, has been
increasingly challenged by recent neuroscience research in which the downplayed
dendrites were found to be active, dynamically unique and computationally
powerful. To date, research on artificial dendrites is scarce and the few
existing devices are still far from versatile or (and) bio-realistic. A
breakthrough is hampered by the limited available physical mechanisms in
mainstream device architectures. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a
bio-realistic and versatile artificial dendrite made of WSe2/MoS2
heterojunction-channel anti-ambipolar transistor, which can closely mimic the
experimentally recorded non-monotonic dendritic Ca2+ action potential that
underpins various sophisticated computations. Spiking neural network
simulations reveal that the incorporation of this nonconventional but
bio-realistic dendritic activation enhances the robustness and representational
capability of the network in non-stationary environments. By further exploiting
the memristive effect, dendritic anti-ambipolar transistor can naturally mimic
Ca2+-mediated regulation of synaptic plasticity (meta-plasticity) at dendritic
spine, an important homeostatic phenomenon due to dendritic modulation. The
invention of dendritic anti-ambipolar transistor completes the family of
neuromorphic transistors and represents a major advance in diversifying the
functionality of transistors.
