Porous silicon substrates for neurons culturing and bio-photonic sensing

In this work we report on culturing of Aplysia neurons and vertebrate cells to porous silicon substrates and on the first steps toward characterizing porous silicon as a biosensor of neural activity. Neurons cultured on porous silicon substrates survived for at least one week showing normal passive membrane properties and generation of action potentials. We have investigated several mechanisms that take advantage of the optical properties of porous silicon for transducing both electrical and chemical neuronal activities into photonic signals. For example, the photoluminescence response to voltage and the reflectivity response to chemical changes were investigated.