BELL11
Key Features:
Microelectrode array for advanced characterization of neuronal cultures
- Total area: 12.2 x 9.75 mm²
- Operating voltage: 1.8–3.3 V
- Fabrication: XFAB 180nm CMOS
Application: This chip is a microelectrode array, a tool used to study many types of biological samples, such as neuronal cultures and acute brain slices. Neurons communicate using small electrical pulses called action potentials, or “spikes.” The chip is designed to sense and evoke spikes from thousands of neurons at the same time. This capability can help researchers study how neurons communicate, how diseases change their behavior, and how different drugs might restore lost function in the nervous system.
Short Description: This 12.2 × 9.75 mm2 microelectrode array, built in X‑FAB 180 nm CMOS technology, integrates 40,000 platinum electrodes arranged in a 160 × 250 grid, with an electrode-to-electrode pitch of 15 µm. The chip includes 1,024 bidirectional channels for both low-noise voltage recording and electrical stimulation. A versatile switch matrix enables these bidirectional channels to be assigned to almost any electrode on the array, supporting scanning of all 40,000 electrodes to locate active neurons, and then targeting specific regions for detailed study.
Design Team: Dr. Fernando Cardes, with the assistance of Walter Bernardi, and under the supervision of Prof. Andreas Hierlemann, Bio Engineering Laboratory at ETH Zürich.