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 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2006 Boston
Simulation of the Capacitive Double Layer at the Interface
between Microelectrodes and Cortical Tissue Using Comsol
Multiphysics and SPICE Modeling
Ryan M. Field and Maysam Ghovanloo*
NC-Bionics Laboratory, North Carolina State University
*Corresponding author: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Box 7914, Raleigh, NC 27695,
mghovan@ncsu.edu
Abstract: The interface between
microelectrodes and biological tissue is of great
interest to researchers working on extracellular
stimulation. This interface is quite complex and
must be modeled carefully to match
experimental results. In this paper, we outline a
method used to model the complex double layer
capacitance at the interface between the
electrodes and the cortex. This model relies on
the combined power of SPICE, MATLAB, and
Comsol Multiphysics. According to our
simulations, we have found that the modeled
efficacy of a microelectrode is decreased by 60.7
percent when the double layer capacitance is
appropriately taken into consideration. The goal
of this model is to provide a more accurate
representation of current distributions in addition
to the potential distribution throughout a
homogeneous piece of cortical tissue.
Keywords: Microelectrode Arrays, Double
Layer Capacitance, Fourier Analysis,
Stimulation of Tissue
1. Introduction
The cerebral cortex is responsible for most of the
brain’s sensory and motor functions including
auditory and visual systems [1]. Cortical
stimulation offers great promise for rehabilitation
of such systems that have been damaged by
disease or through injury. There have been
significant advances in the fabrication of
microelectrodes using silicon micromachining
technology (MEMS) during the last two decades,
but little detail is known about the interface
between the electrodes and the neural tissue
when considered on the microscopic level. We
have developed simulation tools using Comsol
Multiphysics, SPICE, and MATLAB in order to
provide insight into the characteristics of a
microstimulating array that is implanted into the
cortical tissue. The goal of our research is to
improve the efficiency and efficacy of neural
stimulation by choosing optimal waveforms and
electrode geometries. We have previously
focused on the DC characteristics of such
devices [2]. However, there are important AC
behaviors that must be accounted for in order to
develop a model that accurately represents the
electrode-tissue interface and the stimulus
current spread through the tissue volume
conductor. One particular phenomenon that
greatly impacts the overall efficacy of the
electrode is the double layer capacitance that
forms at the boundary between the electrode and
the electrolyte due to the intracellular fluids of
the cortical tissue. This double layer and its
characteristics will be discussed further in the
section 2. The notable feature of this capacitance
is that it depends on the frequency at which the
stimulus signal applied to the electrode operates.
Our procedure accounts for this dependency by
considering each of the Fourier harmonics
separately and ensuring that each harmonic is
scaled appropriately before being recombined to
reconstruct the resulting signal at any point
inside the 3-D tissue volume conductor. We will
discuss our model in more detail in sections 3
and 4. We will present our simulation results in
section 5 and conclude with a discussion in
section 6.
2. Theoretical Background
The double layer capacitance formed at the
interface of a metallic electrode and an
electrolyte, like intracellular fluid of the neural
tissue, is quite complex. However, it has
previously been studied extensively by Robinson
[3], Merrill [4], and several others [12], [13].
2.1 Charge Transfer Mechanisms
The double layer capacitance arises from the
movement of charges and ions at the interface.
This forms layers of charge by two mechanisms,
Faradic transfer and non-Faradic transfer. In
Faradic transfer, electrons are transferred across
the boundary resulting in oxidation or reduction
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2006 Boston
reactions in the electrolyte. This process is a
non-reversible reaction and undesirable for
biological purposes since the tissue is altered
during the reduction and oxidation processes and
the evolved gasses and change of pH can damage
the tissue as well as the electrode. The other
type of transfer is non-Faradic charge transfer.
Non-Faradic transfer is a reversible process and
is characterized by the motion of charges near
the interface to form a charge separation region.
This region is the origin of the double layer
capacitance.
2.2 Frequency Dependence of Double Layer
Capacitance
Due to the nature of this capacitive layer and the
motion of charges when voltage is applied to the
electrode, it has been found experimentally that
the capacitance varies with frequency [3].
Empirically, Gesteland et al. have found that the
frequency dependence of this capacitance for
platinum electrodes in physiological saline varies
as 1 / ω [5]. Further, Guld experimentally
measured the value of the double layer
capacitance for platinum at 1 kHz to be 20
μC/cm2 [6]. Using this information, it is possible
to determine the capacitance of an electrode,
given its surface area, assuming that the
frequency is maintained at 1 kHz. To invoke
biological responses, we would like to be able to
stimulate using pulses with frequencies ranging
from about 10 Hz to 10 kHz [3]. Thus, it is
necessary to scale the capacitance according to
Gesteland’s measurements. Thus, the value for
the double layer capacitor becomes:
C=
(2 × 10 )( A)
−11 (1)
ω
1000
Where A is given in μm2 and ω is the angular
frequency in rad/s.
2.3 The Randles Equivalent Circuit Model
There has been a great effort to model the
capacitance at the electrode-electrolyte interface
using an equivalent electrical circuit composed
of passive elements. These models are discussed
(a)
(b)
Figure 1 – (a) Randles equivalent circuit model for an
electrode-electrolyte interface. (b) The equivalent
Randles circuit for a large electrode resistance.
in [3] and [4]. In this paper we use a standard
model that is commonly used to represent the
complicated electrochemical equations
describing the interfacial interactions, the
Randles Equivalent Circuit. This equivalent
circuit model consists of an electrode
capacitance (the double layer capacitance, Cdl),
an electrode resistance (Rp), and a bulk tissue
resistance (Rb). It has been found through
experimentation that the electrode resistance is
often very large. Since it is in parallel with the
electrode capacitance, this resistance is often
neglected because its contributions to the overall
impedance are quite small [3]. Consequently,
the Randles equivalent becomes a simple RC
circuit that is easily modeled using SPICE or
even manually. It is important to keep in mind
that Cdl is not a simple, constant capacitor and
must be adjusted with changing frequency. This
simple RC circuit agrees with results from
McIntyre, et al., which show that the double
layer capacitance at the interface essentially acts
as a voltage divider. They have found a reduction
in the output voltages in their models by adding
this interface capacitor [7]. The effect of the
impedance on our model can therefore be
computed in the frequency domain as:
⎛ iωCR ⎞
⎜ ⎟
⎜ ω ⎟
1000 ⎟ (2)
Vtissue = VS ⎜
⎜ 1 + iωCR ⎟
⎜⎜ ω ⎟⎟
⎝ 1000 ⎠
where C is computed according to (1).
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2006 Boston
2.4 Microelectrode Properties
The type of microelectrode that we use in this
study are the planar silicon microelectrode arrays
fabricated at the University of Michigan using
micromachining (MEMS) technology [8], [9].
We chose to examine this type of electrode
because they can be lithographically defined for
a wide range of specifications, which provides
the flexibility to easily modify the electrode
arrangements based on design criteria and
simulation results.
The shanks on which the electrodes are placed
are formed with deep boron diffusion such that
the carrier concentration is p++ in that region of
the substrate. Interconnects are formed by
sputtering aluminum, platinum, iridium, or
polysilicon, sandwiched between silicon oxide
and silicon nitride insulating layers. To create
pads on which the stimulating sites will be
formed, the insulating layer over the interconnect
layer is removed. Sometimes the pads are coated
with IrO2 to improve charge injection capacity.
Wafer thinning followed by a selective etch are
used to remove the lightly doped substrate,
leaving behind the highly doped, thin shanks.
Because the diffusion of boron into silicon
creates weakly defined boundaries the etching
stage causes the shanks to have rounded edges
such that the cross-section of a shank closely
resembles a semi-ellipse. Following the etching
process, the electrodes (in our case, Pt) are
grown on the pads defined earlier in the process.
Since the electrode shanks are made of highly
doped Si, it is necessary for the bulk area of the
shank to be grounded. Because we must always
keep the shanks grounded, we will use bipolar
stimulation with pulses of +/- 1V to stimulate the
tissue. In order to reduce the number of mesh
elements and degrees of freedom while
maintaining a high element density, we will
consider an array consisting of only a single
shank with two electrodes.
3. Methods
The approach we have adopted for modeling the
interface aspects of our system includes the use
of three different software packages – SPICE,
MATLAB, and Comsol Multiphysics. The first
step is modeling the DC behavior of our system
using Comsol Multiphysics. We use the
boundary integration post processing feature to
evaluate the current entering and leaving the
electrodes for our geometry in order to compute
the DC resistance between the two sites of the
array. This DC resistance value becomes the
bulk resistance (Rb) as described in section 2.3.
We then programmed a simple circuit using
PSPICE with this DC resistance and a constant
value for the capacitance at 100 Hz according to
the empirical data presented by Guld and
Gesteland [5], [6]. This model uses a square
wave as its source, but all of the harmonics are
not properly scaled since we have used a
constant value for the capacitance.
Consequently, we will program this circuit using
MATLAB and verify the results using the SPICE
output for a constant capacitance value. Using
MATLAB will give us greater control over
which harmonics are utilized and will also make
scripting for different frequencies and input
waveforms easier.
In the future, for more complicated models of the
double layer capacitance, which, for example,
take into account the diffusion of ions in the
electrolyte, integration of SPICE into the model
will be instrumental in solving for the output
waveform. Using our SPICE model in
MATLAB, we will obtain the voltage at the node
between the resistor and capacitor as a function
of time. We can then use this voltage with the
FEA model created in Comsol Multiphysics to
compute the potential at each point in the mesh
and, subsequently, the current densities through
the tissue. Thus, we will have a model that
contains both the time and spatial dependence of
the potential distribution produced by our
microelectrode array.
Figure 2 - Electrode Shank Geometry.
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2006 Boston

Table 1 - Physical Specifications of the Michigan Each of these Fourier components is then scaled
Electrodes used in the FEA simulations. according to the impedance divider calculated in
(2). After computing each scaled Fourier
Shank Length 300 μm Component, we take the Inverse Fast Fourier
Shank Width 30 μm Transform to reconstruct a signal in the time
Shank Thickness 12 μm domain. The results of these computations are
Shank Upper Surface 9000 μm2 then imported into Comsol Multiphysics as the
Area (flat) boundary condition for the electrodes. We used
Shank Lower Surface ~12,800 μm2 Comsol Multiphysics 3.1 for our modeling. The
Area (cylindrical) model consists of 518,497 mesh elements and we
Shank Cross-Sectional ~283 μm2 solved for 606,420 degrees of freedom. We used
Area the built-in library for all of the platinum
Electrode Area ~361 μm2 characteristics and set the conductivity of the
bulk tissue equal to 0.8 S/m, a typical value for
cortical tissue [10]. The shank is 300 μm long
with a base defined by an ellipse with a major
axis of 30 μm and a minor axis of 24 μm. The
platinum electrodes are defined by cylinders with
a radius of 10 μm and a height of 1.5 μm. The
SiO2 layer is modeled as a perfect insulator.
Figure 2 shows the shank geometry and the
dimensions for the shank are summarized in
Table 1.

5. Results

(a) 5.1 Verification of MATLAB and PSPICE

The first step in creating our model was to verify

that our Fourier Analysis would yield the same
results that PSPICE produces with a constant
value for the capacitor. We were able to
successfully use MATLAB to reproduce the
results of PSPICE (Figure 3). Consequently, we
could use the scripting power of MATLAB to
perform our calculations rather than PSPICE
with confidence.

5.2 DC Comsol Model

(b)
Figure 3 - (a) Output from PSPICE for a constant
capacitance with an applied square wave. (b) The
corresponding output generated using MATLAB
plotted with the input waveform. Both waveforms are
cycling at 10 kHz.
4. The Numerical Model
The bulk of our numerical analysis and signal
processing is done using the FFT and IFFT
functions of MATLAB. We take 2 cycles of the
input signal and compute the Fast Fourier
Transform using 2000 Fourier Components.
We are using the Comsol DC Electromagnetics
module to find the resistance of the tissue
between the two electrodes in our shank
geometry (Figure 2) so that we can simulate the
potentials at the boundary using MATLAB.
With the initial DC Comsol Model, we found
that the current between the two electrodes in our
geometry was 22.5 μA when we applied a 2V
change in potential, which corresponds to a
resistance of 88.89 kΩ. Now we are able to use
this resistance in our impedance calculation in
MATLAB. After using MATLAB to calculate
the appropriate waveform, we can apply that
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2006 Boston

voltage to the Comsol model, once again, and

find distribution of currents in the tissue.

5.3 MATLAB Modeling

A crucial component of the complete model is

the script used with MATLAB to generate and
evaluate each of the Fourier Components. We
used MATLAB to scale each of the frequency
components according to the changing
capacitance that varies with frequency according
to (1). A plot of the dependency of the double
layer capacitor on frequency is shown in figure
4. Using this strategy, we were able to obtain an
output waveform for a square wave input at 100 Figure 4 - Frequency dependence of the double layer
Hz, which corresponds to the potential at the capacitance based on [4] and [5] that is used in the
boundary between the electrode and bulk tissue MATLAB Simulations.
in our Comsol model – assuming that the double
layer is thin enough to ignore. This output
waveform is shown in figure 5. You can clearly
see how the waveform differs from the constant
capacitance output in figure 6. It should be
noted that in figure 6, the input square wave
frequency is 10 kHz, which is slightly beyond
the range of our model. The aim of this figure is
to clearly demonstrate the difference in the two
computed wave forms. Since the RC time
constant is so small, the impact of the new model
is more easily seen at higher frequencies where
the time constant is a more significant portion of
the period. We will now use the output
computed with MATLAB and apply it to our
Figure 5 - Output waveform for a square wave input
Comsol model so that we can visualize the
with a frequency of 100 Hz calculated using
potentials and current densities for our geometry, MATLAB with a dependent capacitance value.
using the post processing tools.

5.4 Comsol Modeling

The final component in our microelectrode array

model is created using Comsol Multiphysics.
We will use the same simulation parameters as
described in the Numerical Methods section
above. The output of the Comsol model is
shown below in figure 7. By examining the post
processing information, we have found that
stimulating cortical tissue with a square
waveform and a frequency dependent capacitor
results in the activation of 1.886164 × 10 m3
-13

of the tissue. The volume of activation is the
region of tissue that has a sufficient electric field
to incite an action potential within a nerve cell.
In this paper, we use an electric field of
Figure 6 - Plot of the input signal (square wave at 10
kHz) along with the constant capacitance and
frequency dependent capacitance models. The
difference between the constant and frequency
dependent models is apparent from this figure.
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2006 Boston

Figure 7 - Final potential and current distributions in the tissue. The blue volumes show the region of tissue that is
activated [14] and the red lines show the current distributions in the volume.

3000 V/m as the threshold for activation [14]. 7. References

This model shows a 60.7 percent decrease from
−13
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6. Conclusions electrodes for cortical stimulation,” IEEE-
EMBS Special Topic Conf. on
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packages – SPICE, MATLAB, and Comsol 297-300, (2006).
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we were able to produce a model that can 1071 (1968).
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within the standard biological range. For the “Electrical stimulation of excitable tissue:
square waveform, we found that appropriately design of efficacious and safe protocols,”
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resulted in a reduction in the activated volume of 198 (2005).
60.7 percent. We would also like to study the
5. Gesteland, R., Howland, B. , Lettvin, J.Y.,
efficacy of an exponential waveform [11] using
and Pitts, W.H. “Comments on
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planning a procedure to experimentally evaluate
1856-1862 (1959).
the accuracy of our models.
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2006 Boston

6. Guld, C. “A glass-covered platinum

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8. Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the University

Honors Program and Undergraduate Research
Program for partial funding of this research.

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