Photovoltaic stimulation of mouse and pig retina with pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes integrated on high-density silicon solar cell arrays

Photovoltaic stimulation of mouse and pig retina with pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes integrated on high-density silicon solar cell arrays | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Photovoltaic stimulation of mouse and pig retina with pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes integrated on high-density silicon solar cell arrays Rasmus Davidsen, Akihiro Matsumoto, Pratik Kusumanchi, Jesper Madsen, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7829870/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Photovoltaic retinal prothesis have the potential to restore vision for patients suffering from retinal degenerative diseases. These implants consist of high-density arrays of miniaturized solar cells and for neurostimulation the integration of microelectrodes on each pixel remains a key challenge. In this work, we introduce carbon as novel electrode material in retinal prosthesis. We fabricate Si-based photovoltaic retinal implants with single p-n junctions in 40 μm and 200 μm pixels and successfully integrate pyrolytic carbon electrodes. Single pixels provide an open circuit voltage of up to 0.49 V under near-infrared (NIR) illumination, demonstrating the functionality of the miniaturized solar cells despite the high thermal budget of the pyrolysis process. In electrophysiological ex vivo experiments with mouse retinal tissue, the intra- and extracellular spike activity significantly increased upon NIR-induced photovoltaic stimulation with the retinal implant compared to spontaneous activity, while spike amplitudes were comparable to natural response to white light. Furthermore, spike amplitudes of evoked potentials were slightly higher for carbon electrodes compared to Au counterparts. Photovoltaic retinal implants with 3D pillar electrodes were explored for ex vivo stimulation of porcine retinal tissue, confirming the ability of carbon to evoke action potentials in retinal neurons. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Visual system/Retina Physical sciences/Engineering/Electrical and electronic engineering Health sciences/Medical research/Preclinical research Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Solar cells Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical materials and structures/Silicon photonics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SuppInfoCommMat.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7829870","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":528885157,"identity":"df97110b-0516-4c47-9aa4-3b68a10d1af1","order_by":0,"name":"Rasmus 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