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