نبذة مختصرة : National audience ; The brain is the most complex organ of the body, and our knowledge regarding its mechanisms and dysfunctions remains scarce to date. The brain can be affected by various neurodegenerative diseases, making it an important global health concern, as such disorders are part of the most common causes of death worldwide. As of now, no efficient treatment exists to cure such diseases, in particular Alzheimer’s disease, due to lack of understanding. It is then crucial to broaden research by combining multiple fields (including biology, pharmacology, chemistry, microfabrication, electronics, etc.), as unilateral research does not allow for efficient and complete brain studies.During this PhD we aim to contribute to this worldwide, interdisciplinary research by sharing our expertise in micro-technologies for electrophysiology within the NEUREKA project. The main objective of this H2020 European project is to develop a drug screening platform for Alzheimer’s disease, whereby biological neurons and computational models are combined and interact in an adaptative, closed loop system. Our device serves as an interface between cultured and artificial neurons, to reproduce in-brain pathologies.Our technology, called a Nanowire electrode arrays (NEA), corresponds to a microfabricated chip, based on core-shell metallic PtSi nanowires (NWs). Each electrode possesses 7 NWs, each one with typical dimensions being 3.5μm high and 300nm diameter. The NEA chip offer real benefits, as each electrode possess a high spatial resolution and an important surface-to-volume ratio, leading to a higher affinity with cells. This configuration enables the recording and stimulation of neurons with subcellular accuracy; hence NWs act as artificial synapses.However, our nanoelectrodes possess a limited effective area, which leads to a low charge injection capacity, a key parameter for stimulation processes. Consequently, we propose to study the electrical properties of PtSi interfaces, and investigate the integration of selected ...
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