Robinson, Jacob2020-04-272020-11-012020-052020-04-24May 2020Fan, Bo. "Flexible microelectrodes for high quality in vivo single-unit recording." (2020) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/108413">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/108413</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/108413Single-unit recording using microelectrodes has been a key technique to help us understand how the brain functions. For long-term, high-quality and high-density recording, neural electrodes have been developed to be small and flexible to place more channels and to minimize tissue damage. However, small electrodes naturally have higher impedance, which results in higher thermal noise and reduces the recording quality. Here, we introduce a sputtered porous Pt coating for flexible microelectrodes, which is highly compatible with existing manufacturing process. We compare the sputtered porous Pt with conventional flat Pt, and find consistent impedance reduction up to 9-fold, as well as noise reduction from both in vitro (PBS solution) and in vivo (noise in suppression). We demonstrated that the porous Pt is mechanically robust for handling, implantation, recording single-unit activity and retrieval from the brain. In addition, we designed differently-shaped electrodes and found that both surface area and perimeter determine total impedance. (Adapted from Bo Fan & Alex Rodriguez et al. 2020 [1])application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Flexible microelectrodeselectrode coatingsimpedancefabricationThesis2020-04-27