Memristive-based electro-optical neuromorphic hardware takes advantage of both the high-density of electronic circuits and the high bandwidth of their photonic counterparts, thus showing potential for low-power artificial intelligence applications. In this Perspective paper, we introduce a class of electro-optical memristors that can emulate the key properties of synapses and neurons, which are essential features for the realization of electro-optical neuromorphic functionalities. We then describe the challenges associated with existing technologies and finally give our viewpoint on possible developments toward an energy-efficient neuromorphic platform.

Memristive devices are an emerging new type of devices operating at the scale of a few or even single atoms. They are currently used as storage elements and are investigated for performing in-memory and neuromorphic computing. Amongst these devices, Ag/amorphous-SiOx/Pt memristors are among the most studied systems, with the electrically induced filament growth and dynamics being thoroughly investigated both theoretically and experimentally. In this paper, we report the observation of a novel feature in these devices: The appearance of new photoluminescent centers in SiOx upon memristive switching, and photon emission correlated with the conductance changes. This observation might pave the way towards an intrinsically memristive atomic scale light source with applications in neural networks, optical interconnects, and quantum communication.

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