Dual-Sided Process with Graded Interfaces for Adhering Underfill and Globtop Materials to Microelectrode Arrays

Abstract

Maintaining the insulation between adjacent electrical interconnections is critical for the success of active implantable medical device. Underfilling and globtop coating of dense arrays of microfabricated interconnects poses a big reliability risk. Contamination, voids and the difficulty to deposit liquid underfillers with the appropriate adhesive behavior remains a major hurdle when developing miniaturized high-channel neural interfaces. We approach a bottom up process to fabricate adhesion promoting, graded interfaces on the bottom and top side of polyimide-based microelectrode arrays. This allows the use of pre-molded silicone rubber gaskets as dry underfill material and silicone rubber as globtop material. In this work we present the layer deposition approach to solve the difficulties of providing a double-sided, inversely oriented layer stack for an adhering silicon-oxide termination on polyimide substrates. By introducing a sacrificial polyimide layer we permit high temperature depositions of the required layers allowing a release of the fabricated stack at the desired interface. Long term stable silicone rubber underfill and overcoat is thus achievable despite the use of polyimide substrates. The fabricated samples showed better adhesion to silicone rubber even after storing in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at 85 °C for 18 hours and at 60°C for 72 hours. The FTIR spectrum also revealed the integrity of structural stack after detachment from release layer.