Implantable silicon neural probes with nanophotonic phased arrays for single-lobe beam steering

Abstract: In brain activity mapping experiments using optogenetics, patterned illumination is crucial for deterministic and localized stimulation of neurons. However, due to optical scattering in brain tissue, light-emitting implantable devices are needed to bring precise patterned illumination to deep brain regions. A promising solution is silicon neural probes with integrated nanophotonic circuits that form tailored beam emission patterns without lenses. Here, we demonstrate neural probes with grating-based light emitters that generate a single steerable light beam across $> 60\%$ of the steering range with $\ge 4$ dB of background suppression for optogenetic photostimulation. The light emitters, optimized for blue or amber light, combine end-fire optical phased arrays with slab gratings to suppress higher-order sidelobes.