Abstract
Optimal optogenetic perturbation of brain circuit activity often requires light delivery in a precise spatial pattern that cannot be achieved with conventional optical fibers. We demonstrate an implantable silicon-based probe with a compact light delivery system, consisting of silicon nitride waveguides and grating couplers for out-of-plane light emission with high spatial resolution. 473 nm light is coupled into and guided in cm-long waveguide and emitted at the output grating coupler. Using the direct cut-back and out-scattering measurement techniques, the propagation optical loss of the waveguide is measured to be below 3 dB/cm. The grating couplers provide collimated light emission with sufficient irradiance for neural stimulation. Finally, a probe with multisite light delivery with three output grating emitters from a single laser input is demonstrated.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 22693 |
| Journal | Scientific reports |
| Volume | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 4 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (Award No. CBET-1263987 and CBET-1263785). Parts of this work were carried out in the University of Minnesota Nanofabrication Center which receives partial support from NSF through NNIN program, and the Characterization Facility which is a member of the NSF-funded Materials Research Facilities Network via the MRSEC program.