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Effect of subthreshold slope on the sensitivity of nanoribbon sensors

Effect of subthreshold slope on the sensitivity of nanoribbon sensors
Effect of subthreshold slope on the sensitivity of nanoribbon sensors
In this work, we investigate how the sensitivity of a nanowire or nanoribbon sensor is influenced by the subthreshold slope of the sensing transistor. Polysilicon nanoribbon sensors are fabricated with a wide range of subthreshold slopes and the sensitivity is characterized using pH measurements. It is shown that there is a strong relationship between the sensitivity and the device subthreshold slope. The sensitivity is characterized using the current sensitivity per pH, which is shown to increase from 1.2% ph-1 to 33.6% ph-1 as the subthreshold slope improves from 6.2 V dec-1 to 0.23 V dec-1 respectively. We propose a model that relates current sensitivity per pH to the subthreshold slope of the sensing transistor. The model shows that sensitivity is determined only on the subthreshold slope of the sensing transistor and the choice of gate insulator. The model fully explains the values of current sensitivity per pH for the broad range of subthreshold slopes obtained in our fabricated nanoribbon devices. It is also able to explain values of sensitivity reported in the literature, which range from 2.5%pH-1 to 650%/pH-1 for a variety of nanoribbon and nanowire sensors. Furthermore, it shows that aggressive device scaling is not the key to high sensitivity. For the first time, a figure-of-merit is proposed to compare the performance of nanoscale field effect transistor sensors fabricated using different materials and technologies.
nanoribbon, nanowire, ion sensitive field effect transistor, pH sensor, pH sensing model
0957-4484
Sun, K.
b7c648a3-7be8-4613-9d4d-1bf937fb487b
Zeimpekis, I.
a2c354ec-3891-497c-adac-89b3a5d96af0
Hu, C.
4892b566-6809-42a8-8285-1c1e93aac730
Ditshego, N.M.J.
fc365c7f-3863-45b1-b1e5-6ea429d5cf73
Thomas, O.
f9816700-63de-4cbf-a4dd-939ff7607fb5
de Planque, M.R.R.
a1d33d13-f516-44fb-8d2c-c51d18bc21ba
Chong, H.M.H.
795aa67f-29e5-480f-b1bc-9bd5c0d558e1
Morgan, H.
de00d59f-a5a2-48c4-a99a-1d5dd7854174
Ashburn, P.
68cef6b7-205b-47aa-9efb-f1f09f5c1038
Sun, K.
b7c648a3-7be8-4613-9d4d-1bf937fb487b
Zeimpekis, I.
a2c354ec-3891-497c-adac-89b3a5d96af0
Hu, C.
4892b566-6809-42a8-8285-1c1e93aac730
Ditshego, N.M.J.
fc365c7f-3863-45b1-b1e5-6ea429d5cf73
Thomas, O.
f9816700-63de-4cbf-a4dd-939ff7607fb5
de Planque, M.R.R.
a1d33d13-f516-44fb-8d2c-c51d18bc21ba
Chong, H.M.H.
795aa67f-29e5-480f-b1bc-9bd5c0d558e1
Morgan, H.
de00d59f-a5a2-48c4-a99a-1d5dd7854174
Ashburn, P.
68cef6b7-205b-47aa-9efb-f1f09f5c1038

Sun, K., Zeimpekis, I., Hu, C., Ditshego, N.M.J., Thomas, O., de Planque, M.R.R., Chong, H.M.H., Morgan, H. and Ashburn, P. (2016) Effect of subthreshold slope on the sensitivity of nanoribbon sensors. Nanotechnology, 27 (28), [285501]. (doi:10.1088/0957-4484/27/28/285501).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this work, we investigate how the sensitivity of a nanowire or nanoribbon sensor is influenced by the subthreshold slope of the sensing transistor. Polysilicon nanoribbon sensors are fabricated with a wide range of subthreshold slopes and the sensitivity is characterized using pH measurements. It is shown that there is a strong relationship between the sensitivity and the device subthreshold slope. The sensitivity is characterized using the current sensitivity per pH, which is shown to increase from 1.2% ph-1 to 33.6% ph-1 as the subthreshold slope improves from 6.2 V dec-1 to 0.23 V dec-1 respectively. We propose a model that relates current sensitivity per pH to the subthreshold slope of the sensing transistor. The model shows that sensitivity is determined only on the subthreshold slope of the sensing transistor and the choice of gate insulator. The model fully explains the values of current sensitivity per pH for the broad range of subthreshold slopes obtained in our fabricated nanoribbon devices. It is also able to explain values of sensitivity reported in the literature, which range from 2.5%pH-1 to 650%/pH-1 for a variety of nanoribbon and nanowire sensors. Furthermore, it shows that aggressive device scaling is not the key to high sensitivity. For the first time, a figure-of-merit is proposed to compare the performance of nanoscale field effect transistor sensors fabricated using different materials and technologies.

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Effect of Subthreshold Slope on the Sensitivity of Nanoribbon Sensors.pdf - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 May 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 3 June 2016
Published date: 15 July 2016
Keywords: nanoribbon, nanowire, ion sensitive field effect transistor, pH sensor, pH sensing model
Organisations: Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 395199
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/395199
ISSN: 0957-4484
PURE UUID: 82a45b66-6ce2-4310-abf7-d888db12e192
ORCID for I. Zeimpekis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7455-1599
ORCID for M.R.R. de Planque: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8787-0513
ORCID for H.M.H. Chong: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7110-5761
ORCID for H. Morgan: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4850-5676

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 23 May 2016 20:49
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:36

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Contributors

Author: K. Sun
Author: I. Zeimpekis ORCID iD
Author: C. Hu
Author: N.M.J. Ditshego
Author: O. Thomas
Author: M.R.R. de Planque ORCID iD
Author: H.M.H. Chong ORCID iD
Author: H. Morgan ORCID iD
Author: P. Ashburn

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