Three-dimensional direct laser writing of biomimetic neuron interfaces in the era of artificial intelligence: principles, materials, and applications

The creation of biomimetic neuron interfaces (BNIs) has become imperative for different research fields from neural science to artificial intelligence. BNIs are two-dimensional or three-dimensional (3D) artificial interfaces mimicking the geometrical and functional characteristics of biological neural networks to rebuild, understand, and improve neuronal functions. The study of BNI holds the key for curing neuron disorder diseases and creating innovative artificial neural networks (ANNs). To achieve these goals, 3D direct laser writing (DLW) has proven to be a powerful method for BNI with complex geometries. However, the need for scaled-up, high speed fabrication of BNI demands the integration of DLW techniques with ANNs. ANNs, computing algorithms inspired by biological neurons, have shown their unprecedented ability to improve efficiency in data processing. The integration of ANNs and DLW techniques promises an innovative pathway for efficient fabrication of large-scale BNI and can also inspire the design and optimization of novel BNI for ANNs. This perspective reviews advances in DLW of BNI and discusses the role of ANNs in the design and fabrication of BNI.