Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik

HL 48: Poster 2

HL 48.25: Poster

Thursday, March 26, 2009, 15:00–17:30, P2

Electrolyte Gated Silicon Nanowire FETs — •Oren Knopfmacher, Michel Calame, and Christian Schönenberger — University of Basel, Department of Physics, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland

Silicon Nanowire field effect transistors (SiNW FETs) have been shown to be very sensitive to charged molecules adsorbed on their surface and therefore are ideal candidates for basic sensing units in integrated bio- or chemical sensors [1]. The disadvantage linked to the positioning of grown nanowires on a substrate can be circumvented by using a top-down approach where SiNW are directly etched in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers [2]. This approach allows parallel processing at the wafer scale while opening the possibility to integrate the sensing units with signal conditioning electronics. In our system, a gate voltage can be applied via the Si substrate (back gate, as for conventional FETs,) while a liquid cell system brings the liquid in contact with the nanowire surface. By inserting an additional electrode in the liquid cell, we benefit from an additional handle to control the response of the SiNW FET. We compare the combined effects of the back gate and liquid gate on the transport characteristics of the SiNW FET and show that both gates are essential to perform well-defined sensing experiments.

[1] F. Patolsky, G. Zheng and C.M. Lieber, Nanowire sensors for medicine and the life sciences, Nanomedicine 1(1), 51-65 (2006)

[2] E. Stern, J.F. Klemic, D.A. Routenberg, P.N. Wyrembak, D.B. Turner-Evans, A.D. Hamilton, D.A. LaVan, T.M. Fahmy, and M.A. Reed, Nature 445, 05498 (2007)