Close-Packed Silicon Microelectrodes for Scalable Spatially Oversampled Neural Recording

• Main Authors: Scholvin, Jorg (Contributor), Kinney, Justin (Contributor), Bernstein, Jacob G. (Contributor), Moore-Kochlacs, Caroline (Author), Kopell, Nancy (Author), Fonstad, Clifton G. (Contributor), Boyden, Edward Stuart (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory (Contributor), McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2016-07-08T18:13:55Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 Objective: Neural recording electrodes are important tools for understanding neural codes and brain dynamics. Neural electrodes that are closely packed, such as in tetrodes, enable spatial oversampling of neural activity, which facilitates data analysis. Here we present the design and implementation of close-packed silicon microelectrodes to enable spatially oversampled recording of neural activity in a scalable fashion. Methods: Our probes are fabricated in a hybrid lithography process, resulting in a dense array of recording sites connected to submicron dimension wiring. Results: We demonstrate an implementation of a probe comprising 1000 electrode pads, each 9 × 9 μm, at a pitch of 11 μm. We introduce design automation and packaging methods that allow us to readily create a large variety of different designs. Significance: We perform neural recordings with such probes in the live mammalian brain that illustrate the spatial oversampling potential of closely packed electrode sites.