Transparent Transfer-Free Ultrasmall Multilayer Graphene Microelectrodes Enable High Quality Recordings in Brain...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Materials Science
• Bioengineering

Background:

• Mapping neural network dynamics is crucial for understanding brain functions and disorders.
• Current methods struggle with high spatiotemporal resolution.
• Transparent graphene microelectrodes offer potential for multimodal neural interfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a reliable and scalable fabrication process for transparent graphene microelectrode arrays (MEAs).
• To demonstrate the efficacy of these MEAs for high-resolution neural recording in vitro.
• To overcome limitations associated with manual transfer processes in graphene electrode fabrication.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of multilayer graphene MEAs using a transfer-free process on a transparent substrate.
• Characterization of MEAs with electrode sizes ranging from 10-50 µm in diameter.
• In vitro testing to record extracellular neural activity.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated transfer-free multilayer graphene MEAs.
• Demonstrated reliable capture of extracellular spiking activity with small (10 µm) transparent graphene electrodes.
• Achieved high signal-to-noise ratios (up to ~25 dB), with signal quality primarily limited by electrode-tissue coupling.

Conclusions:

• Transfer-free fabrication enables scalable and reliable production of transparent graphene MEAs.
• These MEAs show significant potential for high-resolution neural interfacing.
• The technology paves the way for next-generation multimodal neural interfaces in neuroscience research.