A Flexible a-SiC-Based Neural Interface Utilizing Pyrolyzed-Photoresist Film (C) Active Sites

Amorphous SiC Thin Films Deposited by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition for Passivation in Biomedical Devices

Amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor with high robustness and biocompatibility, making it a promising material for applications in biomedical device passivation. a-SiC thin film deposition has been a subject of research for several decades with a variety of approaches investigated to achieve optimal properties for multiple applications, with an emphasis on properties relevant to biomedical devices in the past decade. This review summarizes the results of many optimization studies, identifying strategies that have been used to achieve desirable film properties and discussing the proposed physical interpretations. In addition, divergent results from studies are contrasted, with attempts to reconcile the results, while areas of uncertainty are highlighted.

Emerging Opportunities for 2D Materials in Neuromorphic Computing

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) materials and their heterostructures have been recognized as the foundation for future brain-like neuromorphic computing devices. Two-dimensional materials possess unique characteristics such as near-atomic thickness, dangling-bond-free surfaces, and excellent mechanical properties. These features, which traditional electronic materials cannot achieve, hold great promise for high-performance neuromorphic computing devices with the advantages of high energy efficiency and integration density. This article provides a comprehensive overview of various 2D materials, including graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and black phosphorus (BP), for neuromorphic computing applications. The potential of these materials in neuromorphic computing is discussed from the perspectives of material properties, growth methods, and device operation principles.

Emerging SiC Applications beyond Power Electronic Devices

In recent years, several new applications of SiC (both 4H and 3C polytypes) have been proposed in different papers. In this review, several of these emerging applications have been reported to show the development status, the main problems to be solved and the outlooks for these new devices. The use of SiC for high temperature applications in space, high temperature CMOS, high radiation hard detectors, new optical devices, high frequency MEMS, new devices with integrated 2D materials and biosensors have been extensively reviewed in this paper. The development of these new applications, at least for the 4H-SiC ones, has been favored by the strong improvement in SiC technology and in the material quality and price, due to the increasing market for power devices. However, at the same time, these new applications need the development of new processes and the improvement of material properties (high temperature packages, channel mobility and threshold voltage instability improvement, thick epitaxial layers, low defects, long carrier lifetime, low epitaxial doping). Instead, in the case of 3C-SiC applications, several new projects have developed material processes to obtain more performing MEMS, photonics and biomedical devices. Despite the good performance of these devices and the potential market, the further development of the material and of the specific processes and the lack of several SiC foundries for these applications are limiting further development in these fields.

Recent Progress and Perspectives on Neural Chip Platforms Integrating PDMS-Based Microfluidic Devices and Microelectrode Arrays

Recent years have witnessed a spurt of progress in the application of the encoding and decoding of neural activities to drug screening, diseases diagnosis, and brain-computer interactions. To overcome the constraints of the complexity of the brain and the ethical considerations of in vivo research, neural chip platforms integrating microfluidic devices and microelectrode arrays have been raised, which can not only customize growth paths for neurons in vitro but also monitor and modulate the specialized neural networks grown on chips. Therefore, this article reviews the developmental history of chip platforms integrating microfluidic devices and microelectrode arrays. First, we review the design and application of advanced microelectrode arrays and microfluidic devices. After, we introduce the fabrication process of neural chip platforms. Finally, we highlight the recent progress on this type of chip platform as a research tool in the field of brain science and neuroscience, focusing on neuropharmacology, neurological diseases, and simplified brain models. This is a detailed and comprehensive review of neural chip platforms. This work aims to fulfill the following three goals: (1) summarize the latest design patterns and fabrication schemes of such platforms, providing a reference for the development of other new platforms; (2) generalize several important applications of chip platforms in the field of neurology, which will attract the attention of scientists in the field; and (3) propose the developmental direction of neural chip platforms integrating microfluidic devices and microelectrode arrays.

Silicon Carbide Technology for Advanced Human Healthcare Applications

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a highly robust semiconductor material that has the potential to revolutionize implantable medical devices for human healthcare, such as biosensors and neuro-implants, to enable advanced biomedical therapeutic applications for humans. SiC is both bio and hemocompatible, and is already commercially used for long-term human in vivo applications ranging from heart stent coatings and dental implants to short-term diagnostic applications involving neural implants and sensors. One challenge facing the medical community today is the lack of biocompatible materials which are inherently smart or, in other words, capable of electronic functionality. Such devices are currently implemented using silicon technology, which either has to be hermetically sealed so it does not directly interact with biological tissue or has a short lifetime due to instabilities in vivo. Long-term, permanently implanted devices such as glucose sensors, neural interfaces, smart bone and organ implants, etc., require a more robust material that does not degrade over time and is not recognized and rejected as a foreign object by the inflammatory response. SiC has displayed these exceptional material properties, which opens up a whole new host of applications and allows for the development of many advanced biomedical devices never before possible for long-term use in vivo. This paper is a review of the state-of-the art and discusses cutting-edge device applications where SiC medical devices are poised to translate to the commercial marketplace.