Integrated nano electro-optomechanical spiking neuron

Excitability, at the core of the spiking activity of neurons and cardiac cells, is defined by the all-or-none response to external perturbations. Artificial spiking neurons appear as promising candidates for efficient analogue computing or on-demand source of optical pulses. Meanwhile optomechanical systems are applied as microwave to optics interface for potential quantum computing and time-frequency reference. Here, we demonstrate spiking neuron behavior for a GHz gallium phosphide nano-electro-optomechanical crystal integrated on a silicon circuitry. We prepare the mechanical system close to the locked-unlocked transition thanks to on-chip electrodes and observe clear signatures of the saddle-node on invariant circle behavior. We demonstrate further the control of excitable pulses and characterize typical associated properties such as temporal summation or refractory periods important features in an analog computing framework. Our device, scalable to a large number of systems on a single photonic chip, could lay the foundations for distributed analogue optomechanical computing.