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Published July 2009 | Published
Journal Article Open

Dual-side and three-dimensional microelectrode arrays fabricated from ultra-thin silicon substrates

Abstract

A method for fabricating planar implantable microelectrode arrays was demonstrated using a process that relied on ultra-thin silicon substrates, which ranged in thickness from 25 to 50 µm. The challenge of handling these fragile materials was met via a temporary substrate support mechanism. In order to compensate for putative electrical shielding of extracellular neuronal fields, separately addressable electrode arrays were defined on each side of the silicon device. Deep reactive ion etching was employed to create sharp implantable shafts with lengths of up to 5 mm. The devices were flip-chip bonded onto printed circuit boards (PCBs) by means of an anisotropic conductive adhesive film. This scalable assembly technique enabled three-dimensional (3D) integration through formation of stacks of multiple silicon and PCB layers. Simulations and measurements of microelectrode noise appear to suggest that low impedance surfaces, which could be formed by electrodeposition of gold or other materials, are required to ensure an optimal signal-to-noise ratio as well a low level of interchannel crosstalk.

Additional Information

© Institute of Physics and IOP Publishing Limited 2009. Print publication: Issue 7 (July 2009); received 2 April 2009; published 23 June 2009. JD and SCM are grateful for the support of the Broad Fellowship Program in Brain Circuitry at Caltech. The authors would like to thank Christof Koch, Gilles Laurent, Stijn Cassenaer, Kai Shen, Ingmar Riedel-Kruse, Thanos Siapas, Eugene Lubenov, Mike Walsh, Tim Heitzman and Steve Stryker for technical support, advice and discussions. Fabrication was carried out in the Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech. The DRIE portion of this work was done in the UCSB nanofabrication facility, part of the NSF funded NNIN network.

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Published - Du2009p4701Journal_of_Micromechanics_and_Microengineering.pdf

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Additional details

Created:
August 20, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023