A silicon nanowire ion-sensitive field-effect-transistor with elementary charge sensitivity

N. Clement (1) , K. Nishiguchi (2) , Jean-François Dufrêche (3) , David Guérin (1) , A. Fujiwara (2) , D. Vuillaume (1)

1 IEMN - Institut d’Électronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie - UMR 8520
2 NTT Basic Research Laboratories [Atsugi]
3 LMCT - Modélisation Mésoscopique et Chimie Théorique

We investigate the mechanisms responsible for the low-frequency noise in liquid-gated nanoscale silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (SiNW-FETs) and show that the charge-noise level is lower than elementary charge. Our measurements also show that ionic strength of the surrounding electrolyte has a minimal effect on the overall noise. Dielectric polarization noise seems to be at the origin of the 1/f noise in our devices. The estimated spectral density of charge noise Sq=1.6×10−2e/Hz1/2 at 10 Hz opens the door to metrological studies with these SiNW-FETs for the electrical detection of a small number of molecules.

Domaines: Chimie

N. Clement, K. Nishiguchi, Jean-François Dufrêche, David Guérin, A. Fujiwara, et al.. A silicon nanowire ion-sensitive field-effect-transistor with elementary charge sensitivity. Applied Physics Letters, 2011, 98, pp.014104-3. ⟨10.1063/1.3535958⟩. ⟨hal-00572646⟩