Field-effect Electro-Plasmonics: a Quantum Leap in Neurotechnologies

Harnessing the unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution capability of light to detect electrophysiological signals has been the goal of neuroscientists for nearly 50 years. Yet, progress towards that goal remains elusive due to lack of electro-optic translators that can efficiently convert bioelectronic signals to high photon-count optical signals. Here, we introduce an ultrasensitive and extremely bright field-effect active plasmonic nanoantenna translating tiny electric field oscillations to large optical signals in the far-field. Our electrochromically loaded plasmonic nanoprobes overcome the limitation of state-of-art neuroelectrode technologies and enable massively multiplexed measurement of nanoscale electric-field modulations. In our experiments, we demonstrated 500 million parallel, ultrasensitive and subcellular resolution recordings of cell firing behavior, reflecting a technical capability that is well beyond the theoretical limits of the state-of-art neurotechnologies.