Neuron-gated silicon nanowire field effect transistors to follow single spike propagation within neuronal network

Abstract

Silicon nanowire field effect transistors SiNW-FETs provide a local probe for sensing neuronal activity at the subcellular scale, thanks to their nanometer size and ultrahigh sensitivity. The combination with micro patterning or microfluidic techniques to build model neurons networks above SiNW arrays could allow monitoring spike propagation and tailor specific stimulations, being useful to investigate network communications at multiple scales, such as plasticity or computing processes. This versatile device could be useful in many research areas, including diagnosis, prosthesis, and health security. Using top-down silicon nanowires-based array, we show here the ability to record electrical signals from matured neurons with top-down silicon nanowires, such as local field potential and unitary spike within ex-vivo preparations and hippocampal neurons grown on chip respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability to guide neurites above the sensors array during 3 weeks of cultures and follow propagation of spikes along cells. Silicon nanowire field effect transistors are obtained by top-down approach with CMOS compatible technology, showing the possibility to implement them at manufacturing level. These results confirm further the potentiality of the approach to follow spike propagation over large distances and at precise location along neuronal cells, by providing a multiscale addressing at the nano and mesoscales.

Process Variability in Top-Down Fabrication of Silicon Nanowire-Based Biosensor Arrays

“…SiNW-FETs show ultra-high sensitivity to detect different biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, or antibody-antigens [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Furthermore, SiNW-FETs have been utilized to study not only the action potential of cardiac muscle cells or neurons [ 9 , 10 ] but also the action potential propagation along the axon of a neuron [ 11 ]. Compared to their planar and microscale counterpart, SiNW-FETs show an increased signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio during the recording of action potentials [ 9 ].…”