A scalable CMOS sensor array for neuronal recording and imaging

We present a CMOS sensor array with 768 low-noise recording sites for neural recording with 2,048 intercalated angle-sensitive pixels (ASP) for optical read-out. The design is highly scalable due to electrode-level digitization with serial data stream-out. The front-end amplifiers use chopping to reduce flicker noise and achieve an input-referred noise of 4.1μV_rms over a 4.2kHz bandwidth while occupying an area of only 800μm². Digitization is performed by using a distributed ramp ADC that samples every sensor site at 10kHz. Each electrode is plated with platinum to increase the interface capacitance and ensure biocompatibility. The large number of electrodes, 50μm electrode-pitch, and combined optical information will enable sophisticated optogenetic neurophysiological research on a chip.