Using polypyrrole as the contrast pH detector to fabricate a whole solid-state pH sensing device

In this paper, we use the extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET) and the coated wire electrode (CWE) to design a differential pH-sensing device. The SnO/sub 2//ITO glass structure is the EGFET used as the pH sensor because of its excellent pH sensitivity of about 57.10 mV/pH. The contrast pH sensor is the polypyrrole/SnO/sub 2//ITO glass structure CWE, which has the lower pH sensitivity of about 27.81 mV/pH, and we use the third SnO/sub 2//ITO glass structure as the reference electrode to serve the base potential of the electrolyte solution. The pH sensitivity of this differential pH-sensing device is about 30.14 mV/pH and it is linear. Hence, this device is a good pH sensor. By using this technology, the differential pH-sensing device has a lot of advantages, such as simple fabrication, solid-state electrodes, easy packaging, low cost, etc.     

Potentiometric combination ion/carbon dioxide sensors for in vitro and in vivo blood measurements

The development and analytical performance of a novel potentiometric combination ion/pCO2 sensor design for in vitro and in vivo measurements are reported. The design is based on incorporating an appropriate ionophore within the outer silicone gas permeable membranes of both conventional macro and new catheter-type pCO2 sensors. Simultaneous measurement of the potentials across the ion-selective/gas permeable membrane and the inner glass or polymer pH sensitive membrane provides the basis for continuous monitoring of both ionic and pCO2 levels with the same device. A macro-sized K+/pCO2 embodiment of the sensor is constructed from a commercial Severinghaus CO2 sensor and is used to demonstrate the principles and capabilities of the proposed design. A flexible, miniaturized (outer diameter = 1.2 mm) combination K+/pCO2 catheter sensor is also described. The catheter-type sensor is fabricated by inserting a tubular polymer membrane pH electrode into an outer silicone rubber tube doped with valinomycin. Continuous measurements of K+ and pCO2 during 6-h blood pump studies using both the macro and catheter-type combination sensors correlate well with those of conventional bench-top analyzers. In addition, continuous (4 h) intravascular measurements with the combination catheter sensor in dogs show good agreement with those of commercial blood analyzers (R = 0.984 and 0.962 for pCO2 and K+, respectively.     

The pH sensing characteristics of the extended-gate field-effect transistors of multi-walled carbon-nanotube thin film using low-temperature ultrasonic spray method

A novel, simple and low-temperature ultrasonic spray method was developed to fabricate the multi-walled carbon-nanotubes (MWCNTs) based extended-gate field-effect transistors (EGFETs) as the pH sensor. With an acid-treated process, the chemically functionalized two-dimensional MWCNT network could provide plenty of functional groups which exhibit hydrophilic property and serve as hydrogen sensing sites. For the first time, the EGFET using a MWCNT structure could achieve a wide sensing rage from pH = 1 to pH = 13. Furthermore, the pH sensitivity and linearity values of the CNT pH-EGFET devices were enhanced to 51.74 mV/pH and 0.9948 from pH = 1 to pH = 13 while the sprayed deposition reached 50 times. The sensing properties of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions show significantly dependent on the sprayed deposition times, morphologies, crystalline and chemical bonding of acid-treated MWCNT. These results demonstrate that the MWCNT-EGFETs are very promising for the applications in the pH and biomedical sensors.     

The effect of electrostatic screening on a nanometer scale electrometer

We investigate the effect of electrostatic screening on a nanoscale silicon MOSFET electrometer. We find that screening by the lightly doped p-type substrate, on which the MOSFET is fabricated, significantly affects the sensitivity of the device. We are able to tune the rate and magnitude of the screening effect by varying the temperature and the voltages applied to the device, respectively. We show that despite this screening effect, the electrometer is still very sensitive to its electrostatic environment, even at room temperature.     

硅基热电堆真空传感器的耦合场分析

利用商业化的1．2μm标准CMOS生产流水线,配合无掩模体硅各向异性腐蚀工艺,制造了一种热电堆型真空传感器,器件敏感部分尺寸为124um×100μm,由5层薄膜组成,最大厚度为3．2μm．采用一种简化方式对传感器建立有限元模型．新模型一方面忽略了气体对流和热辐射的传热作用,另一方面将各层介质和热电堆结构层分别进行了合并．模型具有简单的断面结构,网格划分容易,收敛速度快．运用ANSYS软件对模型进行了电一热、热一电耦合场分析,直接得到了1．5v加热电压驱动时不同压强下的热电堆输出电压,并与0．1～200Pa之间的测试结果进行比较,结果表明,采用简化建模方式的计算结果与测试结果之间的偏差小于6％．     

Ion sensing properties of vanadium/tungsten mixed oxides

Vanadium/tungsten mixed oxide (V₂O₅/WO₃) sensing membranes were deposited on glassy carbon substrates and used as the H⁺ sensor of the extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET) device. X-ray diffractograms indicated a decrease of the interplanar spacing of V₂O₅ after the insertion of WO₃ revealing that the lamellar structure is under compressive stress. The crystallinity increases with increasing WO₃ molar ratio. The film is not homogeneous, with more WO₃ material sitting at the surface. This influences the response of pH sensors using the EGFET configuration. The maximum sensitivity of 68 mV pH⁻¹ was obtained for the sample with 5% WO₃ molar ratio. For higher WO₃ molar ratios, the behavior is not linear. It can be concluded that V₂O₅ dominates for acidic solutions while WO₃ dominates for basic solutions. Therefore, the mixed oxide with low amount of WO₃ is the main candidate for further use as biosensor.     

A highly sensitive Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin film ultrasonic micro-sensor with a grooved diaphragm

A highly sensitive piezoelectric ultrasonic micro-sensor with a grooved multilayer membrane was developed by a Si-based MEMS technique. The groove was located at one-quarter of the distance away from the edge of the membrane and opened into piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer Pb(Zr,Ti)O(3) (PZT) was 2.2 microm thick and was prepared by a sol-gel method. The prepared PZT film was pure perovskite and showed a highly (100) textured structure. The sensitivity of the fabricated piezoelectric ultrasonic sensor without the groove structure was 100 microV/Pa. In comparison, the sensitivity of the ultrasonic sensor with the groove structure was about 500 microV/Pa, which is 5 times that without the groove structure. The diaphragm having grooves showed a corrugate-like structure that was formed by residual stress. The high sensitivity of the membrane with the grooved diaphragm is considered to relate to the corrugate-like structure.     

A highly sensitive Pb(Zr,Ti)O/sub 3/ thin film ultrasonic micro-sensor with a grooved diaphragm

A highly sensitive piezoelectric ultrasonic micro-sensor with a grooved multilayer membrane was developed by a Si-based MEMS technique. The groove was located at one-quarter of the distance away from the edge of the membrane and opened into piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) was 2.2 mum thick and was prepared by a sol-gel method. The prepared PZT film was pure perovskite and showed a highly (100) textured structure. The sensitivity of the fabricated piezoelectric ultrasonic sensor without the groove structure was 100 muV/Pa. In comparison, the sensitivity of the ultrasonic sensor with the groove structure was about 500 muV/Pa, which is 5 times that without the groove structure. The diaphragm having grooves showed a corrugate-like structure that was formed by residual stress. The high sensitivity of the membrane with the grooved diaphragm is considered to relate to the corrugate-like structure.     

Multiscale Hierarchical Design of a Flexible Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor with High Sensitivity and Wide Linearity Range

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors have been attracting wide attention for applications in health monitoring and human‐machine interfaces because of their simple device structure and easy‐readout signals. For practical applications, flexible pressure sensors with both high sensitivity and wide linearity range are highly desirable. Herein, a simple and low‐cost method for the fabrication of a flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor with a hierarchical structure over large areas is presented. The piezoresistive pressure sensor consists of arrays of microscale papillae with nanoscale roughness produced by replicating the lotus leaf's surface and spray‐coating of graphene ink. Finite element analysis (FEA) shows that the hierarchical structure governs the deformation behavior and pressure distribution at the contact interface, leading to a quick and steady increase in contact area with loads. As a result, the piezoresistive pressure sensor demonstrates a high sensitivity of 1.2 kPa⁻¹ and a wide linearity range from 0 to 25 kPa. The flexible pressure sensor is applied for sensitive monitoring of small vibrations, including wrist pulse and acoustic waves. Moreover, a piezoresistive pressure sensor array is fabricated for mapping the spatial distribution of pressure. These results highlight the potential applications of the flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor for health monitoring and electronic skin.     

Novel developments in the MOSFET dosemeter for neutron dosimetry applications

The feasibility of large-geometry Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) devices has been assessed for both active and passive neutron dosimetry and use in radiotherapy environments. Neutron sensitivity has been enhanced with the use of polymeric cement surrounding the gate region. Neutron activation via nuclear interaction processes is a potential problem with conventionally packaged and fabricated devices. To overcome this problem, a unique low-activation device design is described. Standard Dual in-Line devices, modified with polymeric cement and boron loaded cement have been exposed to gamma rays (60Co) and neutrons (gamma-ray shielded 252Cf) to provide neutron sensitivity estimates. The results show that the neutron sensitivity can be increased by a factor of approximately three by the use of a thin layer of polymeric cement over the gate region. Essentially zero activation is observed in the activation-reduced design compared with 1000 cps in the conventional design MOSFET when both are exposed under identical conditions to a neutron field from a gamma-ray shielded 252Cf isotopic source.     

Patterning of pH sensitive fluorescent bipyridazine derivatives

A pH sensitive pipeprazine substituted bipyridazine fluorophore, DPP-BPDZ was explored as a pH sensor in solution and thin film state. Greenish highly fluorescent solution of the DPP-BPDZ with fluorescence quantum yield of 0.63 showed fluorescence decrease as the acetic acid concentration of the media was increased. The fluorescence quenching was correlated linearly with the content of acetic acid dose and attributed to the protonation at the terminal piperazine group. An acid sensitive film was fabricated using a transparent polymeric host (PMMA) and the DPP-BPDZ dye molecules as a guest. The resultant bright green fluorescent film (1.4 microm thick) showed exponential decrease of the fluorescence intensity as the pH of the dipping solution was decreased. In the range of pH below 4.5, the film sensitivity to pH was higher than the pH range over 4.5. A patternable film sensor was fabricated by introducing a photo acid generator (PAG) layer on the dye layer. Fluorescence patterns was formed on the film sensor through a photo-mask by relatively weak power of UV light (0.4 mW/cm2). Fluorescent line patterns having 10 microm line width were obtained with high fluorescence contrast between the patterns.     

Study on pH at the point of zero charge of TiO2 pH ion-sensitive field effect transistor made by the sputtering method

In this article, the current-voltage curve of an ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) is used to find the pH_pzc (pH at the point of zero charge) of a pH-ISFET device. The pH_pzc is an important parameter of a pH-ISFET device that is used directly to obtain the relationship between the equilibrium constants, K_a and K_b, and pH sensitivity. In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) acted as the sensitive membrane of a pH-ISFET, and was deposited by the sputtering method with a thickness of about 250 Å. A Keithley 236 Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer was used to measure the drain-source current (I_DS) versus the gate voltage (V_G) curve at room temperature. Furthermore, this was used to determine the sensitivity of the TiO₂ pH-ISFET, and then this information has substituted into the theoretical metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) model to determine the ISFET threshold voltage. Thus, the surface potentials of the TiO₂ pH-ISFET for different pH values were obtained. Furthermore, it is well known that when the pH is equal to the pH_pzc the surface potential must be zero and accordingly, we attained a pH_pzc of 6.2 for the TiO₂ pH-ISFET.     

Chromium silicide film on ceramic substrate for pressure measurement

In this paper we present a device, based on amorphous silicon technology, fabricated on ceramic substrate able to perform pressure measurement with both good linearity and sensitivity. The active material of the sensor is a thin film (below 5 nm) of chromium silicide formed at room temperature on an n-type amorphous silicon layer. Sensors with different shapes (square and rectangular) and positions on the ceramic membrane have been characterized. Sensitivity in the order of 400 μV/kPa has been achieved.     

A Resonant Micromachined Electrostatic Charge Sensor

A micromachined electrometer, based on the concept of a variable capacitor, has been designed, modeled, fabricated, and tested. The device presented in this paper functions as a modulated variable capacitor, wherein a dc charge to be measured is up-modulated and converted to an ac voltage output, thus improving the signal-to-noise ratio. The device was fabricated in a commercial standard SOI micromachining process without the need for any additional processing steps. The electrometer was tested in both air and vacuum at room temperature. In air, it has a charge-to-voltage conversion gain of 2.06 nV/e, and a measured charge noise floor of 52.4 e/rtHz. To reduce the effects of input leakage current, an electrically isolated capacitor has been introduced between the variable capacitor and input to sensor electronics. Methods to improve the sensitivity and resolution are suggested while the long-term stability of these sensors is modeled and discussed.     

Ultrasensitive in situ label-free DNA detection using a GaN nanowire-based extended-gate field-effect-transistor sensor

In this study, we have successfully demonstrated that a GaN nanowire (GaNNW) based extended-gate field-effect-transistor (EGFET) biosensor is capable of specific DNA sequence identification under label-free in situ conditions. Our approach shows excellent integration of the wide bandgap semiconducting nature of GaN, surface-sensitivity of the NW-structure, and high transducing performance of the EGFET-design. The simple sensor-architecture, by direct assembly of as-synthesized GaNNWs with a commercial FET device, can achieve an ultrahigh detection limit below attomolar level concentrations: about 3 orders of magnitude higher in resolution than that of other FET-based DNA-sensors. Comparative in situ studies on mismatches ("hotspot" mutations related to human p53 tumor-suppressor gene) and complementary targets reveal excellent selectivity and specificity of the sensor, even in the presence of noncomplementary DNA strands, suggesting the potential pragmatic application in complex clinical samples. In comparison with GaN thin film, NW-based EGFET exhibits excellent performance with about 2 orders higher sensitivity, over a wide detection range, 10(-19)-10(-6) M, reaching about a 6-orders lower detection limit. Investigations illustrate the unique and distinguished feature of nanomaterials. Detailed studies indicate a positive effect of energy band alignment at the biomaterials-semiconductor hybrid interface influencing the effective capacitance and carrier-mobility of the system.     

Magnetically actuated complementary metal oxide semiconductor resonant cantilever gas sensor systems

In the present paper, an electromagnetically actuated resonant cantilever gas sensor system is presented that features piezoresistive readout by means of stress-sensitive MOS transistors. The monolithic gas sensor system includes a polymer-coated resonant cantilever and the necessary oscillation feedback circuitry, both monolithically integrated on the same chip. The fully differential feedback circuit allows for operating the device in self-oscillation with the cantilever constituting the frequency-determining element of the feedback loop. The combination of magnetic actuation and transistor-based readout entails little power dissipation on the cantilever and reduces the temperature increase in the sensitive polymer layer to less than 1 degrees C, whereas previous designs with thermally actuated cantilevers showed a temperature increase of up to 19 degrees C. The lower temperature of the sensitive polymer layer on the cantilever directly improves the sensitivity of the sensor system as the extent of analyte physisorption decreases with increasing temperature. The electromagnetic sensor design shows an almost 2 times larger gas sensitivity than the earlier design, which is thermally actuated and read out using p-diffused resistors. The gas sensor is fabricated using an industrial complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process and post-CMOS micromachining.     

Ti-doped Gd2O3 sensing membrane for electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor pH sensor

The paper reports Ti was added to Gd₂O₃ as pH sensing membrane on silicon combined with proper rapid thermal annealing for the electrolyte-insulator- semiconductor application. It can be found that the high-k Gd₂TiO₅ sensing membrane annealed at 800 °C could obtain high sensitivity, high linearity, low hysteresis voltage, and low drift rate due to improvements of crystalline structures. The high-k Gd₂TiO₅ sensing membrane shows great promise for future bio-medical device applications.     

Mass sensitivity of the thin-rod acoustic wave sensor operated in flexural and extensional modes

The mass sensitivities of the thin-rod acoustic wave sensor in both flexural and extensional acoustic modes are presented. These are based on experiments involving the electrodeposition of a test loading material onto a thin metal fiber (the thin rod) in a delay line configuration. Only small changes in acoustic loss occur when the device is immersed in an electrolyte, particularly in the flexural mode. Copper and lead have been used as test materials to confirm that the effects of elasticity can give rise to positive and negative mass sensitivities, respectively. The experimental and theoretical values all agree in sign and are of the same order of magnitude. This result confirms a refined theoretical model that includes incorporation of the effects of elasticity and inertia. An increase in experimental mass sensitivity with decrease in fiber radius is one of the advantages for the construction of a sensitive chemical sensor based on the thin-rod device. The sensor can be operated with facility in both gas and liquid phases and offers a new technique for the study of interfacial electrochemistry on metal surfaces. The phenomenon of mechanical resonance was observed during a number of experiments.     

Fabrication of Flexible MoS2 Thin‐Film Transistor Arrays for Practical Gas‐Sensing Applications

By combining two kinds of solution‐processable two‐dimensional materials, a flexible transistor array is fabricated in which MoS₂ thin film is used as the active channel and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) film is used as the drain and source electrodes. The simple device configuration and the 1.5 mm‐long MoS₂ channel ensure highly reproducible device fabrication and operation. This flexible transistor array can be used as a highly sensitive gas sensor with excellent reproducibility. Compared to using rGO thin film as the active channel, this new gas sensor exhibits much higher sensitivity. Moreover, functionalization of the MoS₂ thin film with Pt nanoparticles further increases the sensitivity by up to ～3 times. The successful incorporation of a MoS₂ thin‐film into the electronic sensor promises its potential application in various electronic devices.     

Low-concentration NO/sub 2/ detection with an adsorption porous silicon FET

Adsorption porous silicon FET (APSFET) is a porous silicon (PS)-based device constituted of a FET structure with a porous adsorbing layer between drain and source. Adsorbed gas molecules in the porous layer induce an inverted channel in the crystalline silicon under the PS itself. The mobile charge per unit area in the channel depends on the molecular gas concentrations in the sensing layer so that adsorbed gas molecules play a role similar to the charge on the gate of a FET. In this work, NO/sub 2/ detection by using the APSFET is demonstrated for the first time. NO/sub 2/ concentration as low as 100 ppb was detected. Devices with both as-grown and oxidized PS layers were fabricated and compared in order to investigate the effect of a low-temperature thermal oxidation on the electrical performances of the sensor. Nonoxidized sensors show a high sensitivity only for fresh devices, which reduces with the aging of the sample. Oxidation of the PS layer improves the electrical performance of sensors, in terms of stability, recovery time, and interference with the relative humidity level, keeping the high sensitivity to nitrogen dioxide.