A fully integrated, wireless neural interface device is being developed to free patients from the restriction and risk of infection associated with a transcutaneous wired connection. This device requires a hermetic, biocompatible encapsulation layer at the interface between the device and the neural tissue to maintain long-term recording/stimulating performance of the device. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC x :H) films deposited by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using SiH 4 , CH 4 , and H 2 precursors were investigated as the encapsulation layer for such device. Si-C bond density, measured by Fourier transform infrared absorption spectrometer, suggests that deposition conditions with increased hydrogen dilution, increased temperature, and low silane flow typically result in increase of Si-C bond density. From the variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement, no dissolution of a-SiC x :H was observed during soaking tests in 90°C phosphate buffered saline. Conformal coating of the a-SiC x :H in Utah electrode array was observed by scanning electron microscope. Electrical properties were studied by impedance spectroscopy to investigate the performance of a-SiC x :H as an encapsulation layer, and the results showed long term stability of the material.

No abstract

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the N2 plasma treatment for high-κ ZrO2 gate dielectric stack (30 nm) with indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). Experimental results reveal that a suitable incorporation of nitrogen atoms could enhance the device performance by eliminating the oxygen vacancies and provide an amorphous surface with better surface roughness. With N2 plasma treated ZrO2 gate, IGZO channel is fabricated by atmospheric pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (AP-PECVD) technique. The best performance of the AP-PECVD IGZO TFTs are obtained with 20 W-90 sec N2 plasma treatment with field-effect mobility (μ(FET)) of 22.5 cm2/V-s, subthreshold swing (SS) of 155 mV/dec, and on/off current ratio (I(on)/I(off)) of 1.49 x 10(7).

Neural interface devices have been developed for neural science and neuroprosthetics applications to record and stimulate neural signals. Chemical-vapor-deposited Parylene-C films were studied as an encapsulation material for such an implantable device. The surface morphology of an implant affects its biocompatibility; thus, the Parylene-C surface morphology was investigated as a function of the precursor sublimation rate by atomic force microscopy. We found that high precursor sublimation rates resulted in slightly higher root-mean-square surface roughnesses (from 5.78 to 9.53 nm for deposition rates from 0.015 to 0.08 g/min). The crystallinity affects the physical properties of semicrystalline polymers, and various heat treatments were found to modify the crystallinity of Parylene-C films, as assessed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD peak at 2θ = ~14.5° increased in intensity and decreased in full width at half maximum with increasing annealing temperature, indicating an increase in film crystallinity. Poor adhesion would compromise the protection offered by Parylene-C coatings. The adhesion between Parylene-C and silicon, amorphous silicon carbide, and boron silicate glass substrates were evaluated using the standard tape adhesion test from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) in an attempt to minimize the occurrence of delamination failures. The tape adhesion tests indicated strong adhesion for all the as-deposited Parylene films with the application of an adhesion promoter (Silquest A-174 ® silane). However, annealing the deposited films at temperatures from 85 to 150°C in air for 20 min reduced film adhesion, and also the adhesion testing procedure used significantly affects the results obtained. Supporting evidence suggested that the thermal stress generated in the films weakened the adhesive force. We concluded that 88 Sensors and Materials, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2008) the Parylene-C film properties (surface morphology, crystallinity, and adhesion) changed during deposition and thermal annealing, suggesting that the Parylene-C film properties can be tailored and that, with care, failure due to film delamination can be avoided.

In this paper, APPJ (Atmospheric pressure Pules arc Plasma Jet) is used to generate a DC pulse source depositing GZO thin film under atmospheric pressure. Thus, no vacuum chamber needed leads to the cost downward. With scanning operation, makes single unit area into large size area. Several key process parameters have been studied, including the power supply voltage, DC pulse, the length of the nozzle extended head, and depositing gap to understand their relationship with the film quality and atmospheric plasma state.In this study, with adjusting DC pulse, the pulse frequency is found to have a great impact on the plasma state and the film quality. When the pulse frequency is near 25 kHz, lower sheet resistance can be retained. Besides, adjusting Tofftime, the plasma and thin film quality are influenced more than Tontime. By changing the power supply voltage, the secondary-side voltage decreases with increasing of the instantaneous current; moreover, the plasma will become more intense.