For an application in prosthetics, a semiconductor-brain interface has been realized utilizing a silicon-needle-chip with field-effect transistors and capacitors. The transistors and capacitors are located near the tip of the needle and therefore within the tissue. The processing of the electrical components had to be combined with the machining of the three-dimensional structure from the needle-chips out of the silicon-wafer. The entire chip is separated by an insulating layer from the biological environment. An insulating layer of TiO2 was chosen for and its high dielectric constant, which improves the coupling between the chip and brain, and its biocompatibility. Successful experiments were carried out with brain slices of the hippocampus of rats and the barrel cortex of anesthetized rats.
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For an application in prosthetics, a semiconductor-brain interface has been realized utilizing a silicon-needle-chip with field-effect transistors and capacitors. The transistors and capacitors are located near the tip of the needle and therefore within the tissue. The processing of the electrical components had to be combined with the machining of the three-dimensional structure from the needle-chips out of the silicon-wafer. The entire chip is separated by an insulating layer from the biologic...
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