Scientists create transistor compatible with living cells

A team of scientists from the Technische Universität München (TUM) and the Jülich Research Center published the results in the journal Advanced Materials.

According to a statement, so-called bioelectronic applications have been proposed that would place sensors and, in some cases, actuators inside a person’s brain, eye, or ear to help compensate for neural damage.

Pioneering research in this area was done using the mature technology of silicon microelectronics, but in practice that approach may not be practicable as flexible substrates and watery biological environments pose serious problems for silicon devices. In addition, they may be too ‘noisy’ for reliable communication with individual nerve cells.

Of the several material systems being explored as alternatives, graphene appears suited to bioelectronic applications as it offers excellent electronic performance, is chemically stable and biologically inert, can readily be processed on flexible substrates, and should lend itself to large-scale, low-cost fabrication.

The latest results from the TUM-Jülich team confirm key performance characteristics and open the way for further advances toward determining the feasibility of graphene-based bioelectronics.