Wafer-Level Fabrication of Flexible Silicon Carbide Bioelectronics for Electrical Stimulations

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a robust semiconductor with exceptional biocompatibility, stable electrical transmission, and chemical inertness, making it highly suitable for building devices and implants designed for long-term electro-stimulation. This study presents the first wafer-level microfabrication process of a flexible, implantable, wide bandgap SiC-based device designed for cellular electrical stimulation. A dual-phase dry etching process is used to remove the entire Si substrate to release the flexible device efficiently and ensure the quality of the SiC and polyimide substrate. The fabricated SiC electrodes show excellent mechanical flexibility while maintaining a stable electrical performance. These features support integration into a cellular biointerface for electrical stimulation with superior resistance to corrosion supporting operation in physiological environments with negligible degradation. We demonstrate the accelerated cell migration process via electrical stimulation from our SiC electrode systems. Our results highlight the potential of SiC as a promising candidate for cellular electrical stimulation, offering durable, biocompatible, and practical solutions for biointerface treatment applications.