IMTEK Student receives Best Poster Award at the IEEE MEMS 2013

Optrode comprising two silicon probe shafts with two out of the four laser diode chips being operated.

Michael Schwaerzle, PhD student at the Microsystem Materials Laboratory, received the „Best Poster Award“ at the IEEE MEMS 2013 Conference in Taipei, Taiwan, for his paper „Ultracompact optrode with integrated laser diode chips and SU-8 waveguides for optogenetic applications“.

The conference contribution presents an innovative MEMS device with optoelectrical functionality to be applied in neuroscientific basic research. It enables the simultaneous optical stimulation of brain tissue using integrated laserdiode chips interfacing optical waveguides and neural recording by the integrated electrode array. These so-called optrodes, i.e. miniaturized electrode enabling optical stimulation of neural tissue represent the technical interfaces required in optogenetics.

Co-authors of this paper are Karsten Seidl, Prof. Ulrich Schwarz, Prof. Oliver Paul and Dr. Patrick Ruther.
 

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