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Using Algan / Gan For Biosensing Applications

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Among a variety of sensing mechanisms and device architectures, field effect transistors (FET) based devices are ideal biosensors for point-of-care systems since they can directly convert the specific binding between receptors on the gate surface and target analytes to an electrical signal for low-cost, rapid, and sensitive detection, for which signal acquisition and processing units can be simply integrated. Although silicon based metal oxide FETs (MOSFETs) (planar or nanowire) [45,46], carbon nanotube based FETs and graphene based FETs [47-49] have been widely studied as candidates for advanced biosensing applications, they are somewhat limited in various facets.
In the first section of this chapter, limitations of current biosensors …show more content…

These Si-based devices are low-cost and can be easily integrated with signal processing and communication circuits on the same chip.

Ion Diffusion in Silicon Dioxide
SiO2 is the most widely used gate material of silicon-based bioFETs. Since the SiO2 surface is hydrophilic, it serves as a good substrate for cell membranes deposition or receptor immobilization.
However, the applications of Si/SiO2 based biochemical sensors are limited since these devices, when in aqueous solutions, suffer from various difficulties such as chemical instability and degradation of gate dielectrics. Na+ or K+ ions from physiological buffer can diffuse into SiO2 and contribute to mobile charges. These mobile ions can be driven by the applied electrical field, causing a variable drift in the transistor threshold voltage. This drift results in the degradation of device performance or instability of device operation, thus making these devices difficult to detect target analytes in physiological buffers or fluids with high ionic strengths. Figure 2.1 shows comparison of normalized time-dependent DC current measurements between a Si MOSFET biosensor and an AlGaN/GaN HFET biosensor with the gate area exposed to 1× phosphate buffered saline (PBS)

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