*Natalie Page¹, Wesley Seche², Shahram Amini², Jeffrey Hettinger^1
1Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; ²Pulse Technologies Inc., Quakertown, PA
Electrodes and microelectrode arrays that are used for stimulation of nerve tissue and sensing or recording of neural electrical activity are the basis of emerging implantable biomedical devices and treatments for various cardiac, neurological, retinal and hearing disorders. The growing need for electrode miniaturization to reduce patient trauma and induced scar tissue as well as the ever-increasing desire to increase device performance, durability, patient compatibility, and battery longevity has led device manufacturers to utilize electrochemically active high surface area biomedical coatings and thin films. These coatings can reduce geometric surface area of the electrodes and microelectrode arrays and enhance device performance via increase in stimulation and neural activity recording performance as a result of enhancements in the electrochemically active surface area of the applied coatings. Hierarchical surface restructuring is an alternative technology that can increase the electrochemically active surface area of the electrode surfaces. However, understanding the dynamics of restructuring is critical for developing new ultra-high-performing electrodes and microelectrode arrays. In this work, we have sputter deposited elemental metals on electrode materials such as Pt/Ir alloys and have restructured the surface using various laser processing parameters. Restructured surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. We will report on the redistribution of sputtered metal films post-restructuring and will investigate the roles of melting temperature and elemental mass on redistribution and the restructuring process.