Systems and methods for manufacturing needle array electrodes

A method, comprising:

• (a) processing a source material using an additive or subtractive operation to form a plurality of elongated features;
• (b) depositing one or more films on a surface portion of the plurality of elongated features;
• (c) forming one or more electrical interconnections between (i) the plurality of elongated features and (ii) one or more active electronic components for processing one or more signals that are transmitted or received by or through the plurality of elongated features, wherein the one or more films are configured to modify a property of the surface portion of the plurality of elongated features to enable or facilitate the one or more electrical interconnections;
• (d) creating a needle array from the plurality of elongated features;
• and
• (e) dicing said needle array to form an array comprising a plurality of discrete electrodes;
• wherein the plurality of elongated features of (c) are in electrical communication with (i) each other and (ii) a worktable, via the one or more films prior to the dicing in (e).