Highly Crumpled All-Carbon Transistors for Brain Activity Recording

作者：Yang, Long; Zhao, Yan; Xu, Wenjing; Sho, Enzheng; Wei, Wenjing; Li, Xinming; Cao, Anyuan; Cao, Yanping^*; Fang, Ying^*

来源：Nano Letters, 2017, 17(1): 71-77.

DOI：10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03356

• Graphene
• carbon nanotubes
• transistors
• neural probes
• crumpling

Neural probes based on graphene field-effect transistors have been demonstrated. Yet, the minimum detectable signal of graphene transistor-based probes is inversely proportional to the square root of the active graphene area. This fundamentally limits the scaling of graphene transistor-based, neural probes for improved spatial resolution in brain activity recording. Here, we address this challenge using highly crumpled all-carbon transistors formed by compressing down to 16% of its initial area. All-carbon transistors, chemically synthesized by seamless integration of graphene channels and hybrid graphene/carbon nanotube electrodes, maintained structural integrity and stable electronic properties under large mechanical deformation, whereas stress-induced cracking and junction failure occurred in conventional graphene/metal transistors. Flexible, highly crumpled all-carbon transistors were further verified for in vivo recording of brain, activity in rats. These results highlight the importance of advanced material and device design concepts to make improvements in neuroelectronics.

• 单位
  北京大学; 中国科学院; 国家纳米科学中心; 清华大学