Neuron-silicon junction: electrical recordings from neural cells cultured on modified microelectronic device surfaces

A field-effect transistor (FET) array has been fabricated and used for recording of electrical signals from neural cells. The array consists of p-channel FETs with non-metallized gates. The size of the gates of the 16 FETs are from 28×12 μm² down to 10×4 μm² and are arranged in a 4×4 matrix on 200 μm centers. Electrical signals of neural cells can be recorded by direct coupling with the FET. In order to control the neuronal survival and growth, the microelectronic device surface is modified with a synthetic peptide linked to the surface via self-assembly techniques. It can be shown that the composition of the surface can be tuned in such a way that hippocampal neurons show good adhesion and growth for days. More importantly, these cells develop typical electrical characteristics when cultured on this artificial surface. Using this approach passive neuron FET couplings were recorded