SOFT ADAPTIVE NANOCOMPOSITES BASED ONMETALLIC CLUSTER ASSEMBLED NETWORKS FORUNCONVENTIONAL DATA PROCESSING

The continuous increase in distributed sensors and soft autonomous systems is pushing toward the development of electronic devices capable of performing local data processing while being directly integrable into soft and deformable platforms. In this framework, unconventional computing approaches toghether with materials development provide a viable strategy to integrate sensing and computation within the same physical system, overcoming the limitations of traditional silicon-based architectures in terms of mechanical mismatch and system integration. Here, gold cluster-assembled films (MCAF) were produced on rigid and soft substrates by Supersonic Cluster Beam Deposition and investigated as physical platforms for unconventional data processing. The electrical characterization of the metallic networks on rigid substrates revealed nonlinear transport and resistive switching (RS) dynamics correlated to their structural organization and to substrate-dependent forming processes. The implantation of MCAF into PDMS enabled the realization of soft RS devices responsive to electrical, mechanical, and environmental stimuli. Multielectrode configurations were exploited to build environmentally sensitive reconfigurable logic gates, while deposition on paper substrates demonstrated the integration of sensing and bistable electrical response on a flexible and sustainable platform.