Fig. 5: Optoelectronic stimulation of facial nerve activity in New Zealand rabbits with Si-based neural interfaces.

a, b Images of the patch-clamp set-up to investigate the photoresponse of Si/Mo devices under transdermal irradiation (facial skin, ~ 2 mm). Laser is incident from the back and passes through the skin. c The measured output light intensities under the illumination with different intensities (635 nm, 10 Hz, pulse width 10 ms) with/without skin coverage. d Measured photovoltage of Si/Mo devices with/without the presence of skin coverage under illumination with different intensities (635 nm, 10 Hz, pulse width 10 ms). e Anatomy of the facial nerve in the New Zealand rabbit. f Photograph of the implantation of a device on the facial nerve. g Evoked CMAPs of Si, Si/Au and Si/Mo devices under laser irradiation (635 nm, 10 Hz, pulse width 10 ms, 0.95 W/cm²) with/without facial skin coverage. h Images of the in vivo degradation of the Si/Mo optoelectronic device at various stages. The inset at 4 weeks shows a retrieved partially degraded device. In a, b, d, n = 10 independent experiments. In e–h, n = 4 independent experiments. All data are presented as mean ± s.e.m.