Options
2010
Book Article
Titel
Group III-nitride based sensors - advances towards a new generation of biosensors
Abstract
During recent years, chip-based sensor devices received an increased attention for medical and pharmaceutical screening as well as for the monitoring of environmental conditions. Most semiconductor devices such as the highly developed Si based ISFETs are, however, not sufficiently stable up to date. On the other hand, group III-nitrides emerged as highly chemical stable, biocompatible electronic transducer material. Moreover, its transparency for visible light is beneficial to combine standard optical and electrical measurements. Using appropriate designs and functionalization, a high sensitivity of group III-nitride based sensors on ions, bio-molecules, pH-value, and bioactivity of cells in solutions was demonstrated. The most attractive device was demonstrated to be the AlGaN/GaN based field effect transistor. In this work we review the sensing principles of these group III-nitrides based sensors and the attempted surface modifications for biosensors and discuss the principle operation with respect to biosensing. First applications to detect ions, biomolecules, pH value and cell action potential are summarized. Finally, the possibilities for the integration of optical analysis (e.g. fluorescence, absorption spectroscopy) based on group III-nitrides are addressed.
Author(s)