Design and characterization of novel read-out systems for a capacitive DNA sensor

This paper presents novel read-out electronic systems for a fast DNA label-less detection. The capacitive shift due to the hybridization effect is monitored by means of a charge sensitive amplifier and a differential stage. The systems provide an A/D conversion and an evaluation of the capacitive shift amount with a resolution of 11 bit. The read-out solutions demonstrate the ability to identify a 0.01% variation on the capacitive value of the sensor. The investigated techniques are suitable for monolithic systems or for a micro-fabricated array of sensors.