Scalable, modular three-dimensional silicon microelectrode assembly via electroless plating
Date
2018-09-01
Authors
Scholvin, Joerg
Zorzos, Anthony
Kinney, Justin
Bernstein, Jacob
Moore-Kochlacs, Caroline
Kopell, Nancy
Fonstad, Clifton
Boyden, Edward S.
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
Joerg Scholvin, Anthony Zorzos, Justin Kinney, Jacob Bernstein, Caroline Moore-Kochlacs, Nancy Kopell, Clifton Fonstad, Edward S Boyden. 2018. "Scalable, Modular Three-Dimensional Silicon Microelectrode Assembly via Electroless Plating." MICROMACHINES, Volume 9, Issue 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi9090436
Abstract
We devised a scalable, modular strategy for microfabricated 3-D neural probe synthesis. We constructed a 3-D probe out of individual 2-D components (arrays of shanks bearing close-packed electrodes) using mechanical self-locking and self-aligning techniques, followed by electroless nickel plating to establish electrical contact between the individual parts. We detail the fabrication and assembly process and demonstrate different 3-D probe designs bearing thousands of electrode sites. We find typical self-alignment accuracy between shanks of <0.2° and demonstrate orthogonal electrical connections of 40 µm pitch, with thousands of connections formed electrochemically in parallel. The fabrication methods introduced allow the design of scalable, modular electrodes for high-density 3-D neural recording. The combination of scalable 3-D design and close-packed recording sites may support a variety of large-scale neural recording strategies for the mammalian brain.
Description
License
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.