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Open-source Toolkit: Benchtop Carbon Fiber Microelectrode Array for Nerve Recording
Published on: October 29, 2021
Fabrication and characterization of sputtered-carbon microelectrode arrays
G Sreenivas1, S S Ang, I Fritsch
1Departments of Electrical Engineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry and Rocky Mountain Center for Sensor Technology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262, and Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157.
Abstract:
This paper describes a robust and reliable process for fabricating a novel sputter-deposited, thin-film carbon microelectrode array using standard integrated circuit technologies and silicon micromachining. Sputter-deposited carbon films were investigated as potential candidates for microelectrode materials. The surface properties and cross section of the microelectrode arrays were studied by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Electrical site impedance, crosstalk, and lifetime (dielectric integrity) of microelectrodes in the array were characterized. Electrochemical response of the microelectrodes to hexaammineruthenium(III) chloride and dopamine were investigated by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and high-speed, computer-based chronoamperometry; results show that thin-film carbon microelectrodes are well-behaved electrochemically. The thin carbon films offer extremely good electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties and thus qualify as viable candidates for various electroanalytical applications, particularly acute neurophysiological studies.
