Neuromorphic behaviour in discontinuous metal films

Physical systems that exhibit brain-like behaviour are currently under intense investigation as platforms for neuromorphic computing. We show that discontinuous metal films, comprising irregular flat islands on a substrate and formed using simple evaporation processes, exhibit correlated avalanches of electrical signals that mimic those observed in the cortex. We further demonstrate that these signals meet established criteria for criticality. We perform a detailed experimental investigation of the atomic-scale switching processes that are responsible for these signals, and show that they mimic the integrate-and-fire mechanism of biological neurons. Using numerical simulations and a simple circuit model, we show that the characteristic features of the switching events are dependent on the network state and the local position of the switch within the complex network. We conclude that discontinuous films provide an interesting potential platform for brain-inspired computing.