Abstract
For point-of-care (POC) applications, robust, ultrasensitive, small, rapid, low-power, and low-cost sensors are highly desirable. Here, we present a novel biosensor based on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible silicon nanowire tunneling field-effect transistor (SiNW-TFET). They were fabricated “top-down” with a low-cost anisotropic self-stop etching technique. Notably, the SiNW-TFET device provided strong anti-interference capacity by applying the inherent ambipolarity via both pH and CYFRA21-1 sensing. This offered a more robust and portable general protocol. The specific label-free detection of CYFRA21-1 down to 0.5 fgml−1 or ~12.5 aM was achieved using a highly responsive SiNW-TFET device with a minimum sub-threshold slope (SS) of 37 mVdec−1. Furthermore, real-time measurements highlighted the ability to use clinically relevant samples such as serum. The developed high performance diagnostic system is expected to provide a generic platform for numerous POC applications.
Highlights
Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics that offers great potential for early and rapid detection of diseases at lower costs in a portable format has emerged as an exciting field[1,2,3]
Rather than using expensive electron beam lithography, conventional optical lithography was combined with anisotropic wet etching via tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)
Reproducible and well-controlled SiNW-TFETs can be manufactured in high yield via conventional silicon technology, allowing for large-scale and low-cost production
Summary
Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics that offers great potential for early and rapid detection of diseases at lower costs in a portable format has emerged as an exciting field[1,2,3]. Silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (SiNW-FETs)[6,7,8,9] are a highly attractive platform for POC testing because they are small, lightweight, low cost, and offer direct electrical readout, high sensitivity, and multiplexed detection[10,11]. Zheng et al.[6] have presented a possible solution for robust diagnosis of diseases using the incorporation of p- and n-type silicon nanowires These SiNW devices were fabricated based on a “bottom-up” approach and rely on the assembly of grown SiNWs that inherently suffer from complex integration issues, which makes large scale production very difficult[16]. A SiNW-tunnel field-effect transistor (SiNW-TFET)-based biosensor employing band-to-band tunneling (BTBT)[20,21] current injection mechanism was proposed This idea has the potential to overcome these limitations while retaining all other advantages of conventional FET sensors[22]. The proposed SiNW-TFETs are potential candidates to replace conventional FETs for many applications
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