PhD defense of GREENHORN

"Towards the fabrication of all-SiC electrode arrays for neural interfaces: passivating amorphous SiC film, surface functionalization, and electrical characterization"

« Towards the fabrication of all-SiC electrode arrays for neural interfaces: passivating amorphous SiC film, surface functionalization, and electrical characterization»


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cliquer pour voir la liste des membres du jury/clic here for the jury members

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) has shown great promise for neural interfaces. SiC can display a variety of electrical properties, ranging from insulating to conducting, and also shows high biocompatibility and high chemical inertness. Therefore, these material polymorphs provide a strong foundation for long-lifetime neural interface devices. This thesis investigates the silicon carbide material properties for key points of neural interfaces. An emphasis is given on amorphous SiC (a-SiC) as a surface-passivating film. An a-SiC PECVD deposition recipe is used, with silane and ethylene precursor gasses, for the first time for bio-applications. Multi-modal, multi-parameter studies further clarify the landscape of optimization for a-SiC film properties, and identifies the most significant difficulties. This approach provided excellent results in terms of the a-SiC chemical resistance. In parallel, monocrystalline SiC is investigated as a conducting channel material, focusing on charge transfer and channel cross-talk isolation geometry. The latter has been studied using conventional epitaxial (1), implanted (2) NPN junctions or semi-insulating (3) epitaxial layers.  Lastly, the a-SiC surface has been functionalized by grafting organic polymers with desirable mechanical and wettability properties to a-SiC towards improving the brain tissue-device interface. A crosslinked layer of  hyaluronic acid layer with tissue-like mechanical properties was reliably fixed to a-SiC. All of these results advance the usage of SiC for neural interfaces, and together make possible an all-SiC neural interface for in-vivo applications with state-of-the-art properties ensuring high biocompatibility and extremely long lifetime compared to existing devices.

Membres du jury/ Jury members :

Prof.

G. Lissorgues

ESIEE, Département SEED, Laboratoire ESYCOM, 2 boulevard Blaise Pascal - BP 99, 93162 Noisy-le-Grand CEDEX (France)           

Rapporteur

Prof.

N. Vainos

Université Patras, Patras, (Grèce)

Président

Prof

G. Malliaras

University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Division, 9 JJ Thomson Ave, Cambridge CB3 0FA (United Kingdom)

Rapporteur

Prof.

A. Georgakilas

Institut FORTH, Héraklion, Crète (Grèce)

examinateur

Dr.

G. Deligeorgis

Institut FORTH, Héraklion, Crète (Grèce)

examinateur

Prof.

E. Bano

CROMA, Grenoble (France)

Thesis Director

Dr.

V. Stambouli

LMGP, Grenoble (France)

Thesis Co-director

Dr.

K. Zekentes

Institut FORTH, Héraklion, Crète (Grèce)

Thesis Co-director

 



Date infos
10:30 am - room Z307 - buildingZ
Grenoble INP Phelma-Minatec
Location infos
Grenoble INP - Phelma
3 parvis Louis Néel - 38000 Grenoble
Accès : TRAM B arrêt Cité internationale
Free entrance - No registration