Towards on-chip chemical computing: The oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in silicon microchips

The pursuit of more energy-efficient computational architectures is an ongoing research topic. The necessity of such platforms is even enhanced by recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and the subsequent increase in power consumption. Brain-inspired neuromorphic computing has emerged as a promising solution to tackle the computation bottlenecks in AI applications. Most approaches rely on well understood CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) technology. Our approach is to rethink the current paradigm of a neuromorphic computer and use an oscillating chemical reaction network (CRN), the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction, to emulate neurons.