A Light Tolerant Neural Recording IC for Near-Infrared-Powered Free Floating Motes

A key challenge for near-infrared (NIR) powered neural recording ICs is to maintain robust operation in the presence of parasitic short circuit current from junction diodes when exposed to light. This is especially so when intentional currents are kept small to reduce power consumption. We present a neural recording IC that is tolerant up to 300 μW/mm² light exposure (above tissue limit) and consumes 0.57 μW at 38°C, making it lowest power among standalone motes while incorporating on-chip feature extraction and individual gain control.