Long-term bilayer encapsulation performance of atomic layer deposited Al₂O₃ and Parylene C for biomedical implantable devices.

We present an encapsulation scheme that combines atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al₂O₃ and Parylene C for the encapsulation of implantable devices. The encapsulation performances of combining alumina and Parylene C was compared to individual layers of Parylene C or alumina and the bilayer coating had superior encapsulation properties. The alumina-Parylene coated interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) soaked in PBS for up to nine months at temperatures from 37 to 80 °C for accelerated lifetime testing. For 52-nm alumina and 6-μm Parylene C, leakage current was ∼20 pA at 5 VDC, and the impedance was about 3.5 MΩ at 1 kHz with a phase near -87° from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for samples soaked at 67 °C for equivalent lifetime of 72 months at 37 °C. The change of impedance during the whole soaking period (up to 70 months of equivalent soaking time at 37 °C) over 1 to 10⁶ Hz was within 5%. The stability of impedance indicated almost no degradation of the encapsulation. Bias voltage effect was studied by continuously applying 5 VDC, and it reduced the lifetime of Parylene coating by ∼75% while it showed no measurable effect on the bilayer coating. Lifetime of encapsulation of IDEs with topography generated by attaching a coil and surface mount device (SMD) capacitor was about half of that of planer IDEs. The stable long-term insulation impedance, low leakage current, and better lifetime under bias voltage and topography made this double-layer encapsulation very promising for chronic implantable devices.