1. Field
An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for forming a neural electrode, and more particularly, to a method for surface-modifying a neural electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Neural electrodes can be used in in vivo or in vitro neural interface fields. More specifically, the neural electrodes can be used to provide nerves with an electrical stimulus or to measure or record a neural signal.
As materials used for the neural electrodes, a first-generation electrode made of metal wires such as white gold, gold, tungsten and iridium, a second-generation electrode including a semiconductor and a multi-electrode array, a third-generation electrode surface-modified as a nanostructure, and the like are employed. Recently, studies on third-generation electrodes have been actively conducted. Muhammed K. Gheith, Adv. Mater. 2005, 17, 2663-2670 can be referred with respect to materials used for the neural electrodes.
To accurately identify a nervous condition, it is necessary to record neural signals for each nerve cell. To this end, the size of neural electrodes is decreasing to that (about 10 nm) of the nerve cells. However, as the size of the neural electrodes decreased, impedance and thermal noise increase. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the measurement sensitivity of valid neural signals.