Fabrication of Hybrid Optical Electrical Platforms for Potential Applications in Neuromodulation

<p>State-of-the art neuromodulators are bulky, and they are mostly fabricated on rigid substrates. Furthermore, they are not provided with a feedback control loop re- sulting in undesired off-target effects. This thesis paves the way for fabrication of lightweight neural interfaces with the capability to implement closed-loop controlled neuromodulation down to a single-cell resolution. In this work, an approach based on hybrid optical-electrical devices to implement neuromodulation is presented. The rationale of this choice, design illustration, fabrication and characterization is discussed. In addition, a proof-of-concept neural interface is illustrated. Specif- ically, hybrid optical-electrical devices are developed based on inorganic thin films, i.e., nanomembranes (NMs) formed in ordered arrays of buckled channels on com- pliant substrates. The buckled NMs include light-emitting structures in the visible range (namely Si nano-crystals) and graphene electrodes to control and record neu- ral activity, respectively. The compliant substrates of choice is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Buckled NMs are obtained by guided self-assembly of the supported thin films under compressive strain. The cross-sectional size of buckled NM channels is scaled to match the dimensions of single neurons. This work primarily focuses on the fabrication and integration of an optically active NM, with a conductive film, thus obtaining a hybrid optical-electrical platform for potential neuronal in-vitro studies. A process is established based on multiple layer releases and transfers which enables graphene electrodes to be fabricated on the inner side of the buckle-delaminated channels.In addition, structural characterization of the fabricated devices is performed, along with current/voltage measurements of the graphene electrodes, and photoluminescence spectroscopy to assess the optical emission from the buckled NMs.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Electrical Engineering

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• Kondapi, Aneesha

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cavallo, Francesca
• Krishna, Sanjay
• Shreve, Andrew
• N/A

• Semiconductor fabrication
• Nanomembranes
• Neuromodulation
• 3D nanostructures
• Electrical and Computer Engineering

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ece_etds/141

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalrepository.unm.edu:ece_etds-1140