Flexible switch matrix addressable electrode arrays with organic electrochemical transistor and pn diode technology

Due to their effective ionic-to-electronic signal conversion and mechanical flexibility, organic neural implants hold considerable promise for biocompatible neural interfaces. Current approaches are, however, primarily limited to passive electrodes due to a lack of circuit components to realize complex active circuits at the front-end. Here, we introduce a p-n organic electrochemical diode using complementary p- and n-type conducting polymer films embedded in a 15-μm -diameter vertical stack. Leveraging the efficient motion of encapsulated cations inside this polymer stack and the opposite doping mechanisms of the constituent polymers, we demonstrate high current rectification ratios ( $${10}^{5}$$10 5 ) and fast switching speeds (230 μs). We integrate p-n organic electrochemical diodes with organic electrochemical transistors in the front-end pixel of a recording array. This configuration facilitates the access of organic electrochemical transistor output currents within a large network operating in the same electrolyte, while minimizing crosstalk from neighboring elements due to minimized reverse-biased leakage. Furthermore, we use these devices to fabricate time-division-multiplexed amplifier arrays. Lastly, we show that, when fabricated in a shank format, this technology enables the multiplexing of amplified local field potentials directly in the active recording pixel (26-μm diameter) in a minimally invasive form factor with shank cross-sectional dimensions of only 50×8 $${\mu m}^{2}$$μ m 2 .