Detection principles of biological and chemical FET sensors.

The electrochemical biosensor is one of the typical sensing devices based on transducing the biochemical events to electrical signals. In this type of sensor, an electrode is a key component that is employed as a solid support for immobilization of biomolecules and electron movement. Thanks to numerous nanomaterials that possess the large surface area, synergic effects are enabled by improving loading capacity and the mass transport of reactants for achieving high performance in terms of analytical sensitivity. We categorized the current electrochemical biosensors into two groups, carbon-based (carbon nanotubes and graphene) and non-carbon-based nanomaterials (metallic and silica nanoparticles, nanowire, and indium tin oxide, organic materials). The carbon allotropes can be employed as an electrode and supporting scaffolds due to their large active surface area as well as an effective electron transfer rate. We also discussed the non-carbon nanomaterials that are used as alternative supporting components of the electrode for improving the electrochemical properties of biosensors. Although several functional nanomaterials have provided the innovative solid substrate for high performances, developing on-site version of biosensor that meets enough sensitivity along with high reproducibility still remains a challenge. In particular, the matrix interference from real samples which seriously affects the biomolecular interaction still remains the most critical issues that need to be solved for practical aspect in the electrochemical biosensor.

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Electrochemical biosensors: perspective on functional nanomaterials for on-site analysis.

Thanks to advanced semiconductor microfabrication technology, chip-scale integration and miniaturization of lab-on-a-chip components, silicon-based optical biosensors have made significant progress for the purpose of point-of-care diagnosis In this review, we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in evanescent field biosensing technologies including interferometer, microcavity, photonic crystal, and Bragg grating waveguide-based sensors Their sensing mechanisms and sensor performances, as well as real biomarkers for label-free detection, are exhibited and compared We also review the development of chip-level integration for lab-on-a-chip photonic sensing platforms, which consist of the optical sensing device, flow delivery system, optical input and readout equipment At last, some advanced system-level complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip packaging examples are presented, indicating the commercialization potential for the low cost, high yield, portable biosensing platform leveraging CMOS processes

Silicon Photonic Biosensors Using Label-Free Detection.

A/D and D/A conversion☆

Recent developments in optical biosensors based on integrated photonic devices are reviewed with a special emphasis on silicon-on-insulator ring resonators. The review is mainly devoted to the following aspects: (1) Principles of sensing mechanism, (2) sensor design, (3) biofunctionalization procedures for specific molecule detection and (4) system integration and measurement set-ups. The inherent challenges of implementing photonics-based biosensors to meet specific requirements of applications in medicine, food analysis, and environmental monitoring are discussed.

Optical Biosensors Based on Silicon-On-Insulator Ring Resonators: A Review

Modern biosensors play a critical role in healthcare and have a quickly growing commercial market. Compared to traditional optical-based sensing, electrochemical biosensors are attractive due to superior performance in response time, cost, complexity and potential for miniaturization. To address the shortcomings of traditional benchtop electrochemical instruments, in recent years, many complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) instrumentation circuits have been reported for electrochemical biosensors. This paper provides a review and analysis of CMOS electrochemical instrumentation circuits. First, important concepts in electrochemical sensing are presented from an instrumentation point of view. Then, electrochemical instrumentation circuits are organized into functional classes, and reported CMOS circuits are reviewed and analyzed to illuminate design options and performance tradeoffs. Finally, recent trends and challenges toward on-CMOS sensor integration that could enable highly miniaturized electrochemical biosensor microsystems are discussed. The information in the paper can guide next generation electrochemical sensor design.

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CMOS Electrochemical Instrumentation for Biosensor Microsystems: A Review

An integrated CMOS amperometric instrument with on-chip electrodes and packaging for biosensor arrays is presented. The mixed-signal integrated circuit supports a variety of electrochemical measurement techniques including linear sweep, constant potential, cyclic and pulse voltammetry. Implemented in 0.5 μm CMOS, the 3 × mm2 chip dissipates 22.5 mW for a 200 kHz clock. The highly programmable chip provides a wide range of user-controlled stimulus rate and amplitude settings with a maximum scan range of 2 V and scan rates between 1 mV/sec and 400 V/sec. The amperometric readout circuit provides ±500 fA linear resolution and supports inputs up to ±47 μA. A 2 × 2 gold electrode array was fabricated on the surface of the CMOS instrumentation chip. An all-parylene packaging scheme was developed for compatibility with liquid test environments as well as a harsh piranha electrode cleaning process. The chip was tested using cyclic voltammetry of different concentrations of potassium ferricyanide at 100 mV/s and 200 mV/s, and results were identical to measurements using commercial instruments.

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CMOS Amperometric Instrumentation and Packaging for Biosensor Array Applications

Compact signal generators are a necessary component for many biomedical and chemical sensor microsystems. This paper presents a signal generator with precise digital frequency control that is 62% smaller the previous designs. The signal generator can produce analog sine waves and digital cosine waves from 4.8 Hz to 39 kHz with a SFDR greater than 99 dB. In a 0.5 µm CMOS process the total signal generator area is 361µm × 1048µm.

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Sinusoid signal generator for on-chip impedance spectroscopy

Impedance spectroscopy is a powerful tool for characterizing materials that exhibit a frequency dependent behaviour to an applied electric field. This paper introduces a fully integrated multi-channel impedance extraction circuit that can both generate AC stimulus signals over a broad frequency range and also measure and digitize the real and imaginary components of the impedance response. The circuit was fabricated in a 0.5 μm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor. Tailored for cellular membrane interface characterization, the signal generator produces sinusoidal waves from 10 mHz to 10 kHz. To suit a variety of applications, the impedance extraction circuit provides a programmable current measurement range from 100 pA to 100 nA with a measured resolution of approximately 100 fA. Occupying only 0.045 mm(2) per measurement channel, the circuit is compact enough to include nearly 200 channels in a 3×3 mm(2) die area.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.2013.0107

High-throughput impedance spectroscopy biosensor array chip.

Airborne pollution and explosive gases threaten human health and occupational safety, therefore generating high demand for a wearable autonomous multi-analyte gas sensor system for real-time environmental monitoring. This paper presents a system level solution through synergistic integration of sensors, electronics, and data analysis algorithms. Electrochemical sensors featuring ionic liquids were chosen to provide low-power room-temperature operation, rapid response, high sensitivity, good selectivity, and a long operating life with low maintenance. The system utilizes a multi-mode electrochemical instrumentation circuit that combines all signal condition functions within a single microelectronics chip to minimize system cost, size and power consumption. Embedded sensor array signal processing algorithms enable gas classification and concentration estimation within a real-world mixture of analytes. System design and integration methodologies are described, and preliminary results are shown for a first generation SO 2 sensor and a thumb-drive sized prototype system.

Xiaowen Liu

Papers

CMOS Electrochemical Instrumentation for Biosensor Microsystems: A Review

CMOS Amperometric Instrumentation and Packaging for Biosensor Array Applications

Sinusoid signal generator for on-chip impedance spectroscopy

High-throughput impedance spectroscopy biosensor array chip.

Wearable autonomous microsystem with electrochemical gas sensor array for real-time health and safety monitoring