Field-effect capacitor

An early attempt to make a real electrochemical sensor based on a molecularly imprinted methacrylate polymer utilised conductometric measurements on a field-effect capacitor [76]. A thin film of phenylalanine anilide-imprinted MAA-EDMA copolymer was deposited on the surface of semiconducting p-type silicon and covered with a perforated platinum electrode. An AC potential was applied between this electrode and an aluminium electrode on the back side of the semiconductor and the capacitance measured as a function of the potential when the device was exposed to the analyte in ethanol. The print molecule could be distinguished from phenylalanine but not from tyrosine anilide and the results were very variable between devices, which was attributed to difficulties in the film production. The mechanism by which analyte bound to the polymer might influence the capacitance is again rather unclear. 

Figure 2 Capacitance sensor employing a field-effect capacitor as the transducer. (From Ref. 5.)...

Conductometric sensors measure the change in conductivity of a selective layer in contact with two electrodes upon its interaction with the analyte. Conductometric sensors are often based on field-effect devices. For example, capacitance sensors such as the above-mentioned field-effect capacitor [5] belong to this group. Capacitive detection was also employed in conjunction with imprinted electropolymerized polyphenol layers on gold electrodes [36]. The sensitive layer was prepared by electropolymerization of phenol on the electrode in the presence of the template phenylalanine. The insulating properties of the polymer layer were studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Electrical leakages through the polymer layer... 

Fig. 8 Applied voltage dependence of a field effect capacitor made of template polymerized film by phenylalanineanilide in EtOHwt (D and when 25 mM of the compounds shown in the figure is added.

Fick s laws of diffusion, 49, 57, 61, 63, 187 Field effect capacitor, 292 Fixation, 173-88 biocatalysts, 174 by superfine fibers, 177-8 enzymes... 

Integrated circuits (IC s) are circuits in which bipolar transistors, field-effect transistors (FET), resistors, capacitors, and their required connections are combined on a single chip of semiconductor material which is usually made of single-crystal silicon. 

There are three major classes of palladium-based hydrogen sensors [4], The most popular class of palladium-based sensors is based on palladium resistors. A thin film of palladium deposited between two metal contacts shows a change in conductivity on exposure to hydrogen due to the phase transition in palladium. The palladium field-effect transistors (FETs) or capacitors constitute the second class, wherein the sensor architecture is in a transistor mode or capacitor configuration. The third class of palladium sensors includes optical sensors consisting of a layer of palladium coated on an optically active material that transforms the hydrogen concentration to an optical signal. 

The measurement of changes of the surface potential Vo at the interface between an insulator and a solution is made possible by incorporating a thin film of that insulator in an electrolyte/insulator/silicon (EIS) structure. The surface potential of the silicon can be determined either by measuring the capacitance of the structure, or by fabricating a field effect transistor to measure the lateral current flow. In the latter case, the device is called an ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET). Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an ISFET structure. The first authors to suggest the application of ISFETs or EIS capacitors as a measurement tool to determine the surface potential of insulators were Schenck (15) and Cichos and Geidel (16). 

At present, modern power components such as GTO (Gated Transistor On/Off device), IGBT (Isolated Gate Bipolar Transistor), Power Mosfet (Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistor), and high voltage capacitors are easily commercially available and perfectly adequate to realize the energy storage... 

The hydrogen sensitivity of palladinm-oxide-semiconductor (Pd-MOS) strnctnres was first reported hy Lnndstrom et al. in 1975 [61]. A variety of devices can he nsed as field-effect chemical sensor devices (Fignre 2.6) and these are introdnced in this section. The simplest electronic devices are capacitors and Schottky diodes. SiC chemical gas sensors based on these devices have been under development for several years. Capacitor devices with a platinum catalytic layer were presented in 1992 [62], and Schottky diodes with palladium gates the same year [63]. In 1999 gas sensors based on FET devices were presented [64, 65]. There are also a few publications where p-n junctions have been tested as gas sensor devices [66, 67]. 

Since the capacitor, Schottky diode, and transistor all contain an insulating layer under the catalytic metal, they are all referred to in this chapter as field-effect devices. In published literature, the capacitor and diode SiC devices are often referred to as MISiC devices, and the transistor as an MISiC-FET device. 

The success of CD CdS in photovoltaic cells has driven related research with potential applications in other semiconductor devices. Since the CD process seems to play a role in the favorable properties of the CdS windows by decreasing interface recombination, studies of its passivation properties on other interfaces and surfaces have been carried out, with considerable success. For example, when a very thin film (ca. 6 nm) was deposited between InP and SiOi, the resulting reduction of the interface state density led to improved electrical properties of metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitors and field effect transistors (FETs)... 

MOSFETs. The metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET or MOS transistor) (8) is the most important device for very-large-scale integrated circuits, and it is used extensively in memories and microprocessors. MOSFETs consume little power and can be scaled down readily. The process technology for MOSFETs is typically less complex than that for bipolar devices. Figure 12 shows a three-dimensional view of an n-channel MOS (NMOS) transistor and a schematic cross section. The device can be viewed as two p-n junctions separated by a MOS capacitor that consists of a p-type semiconductor with an oxide film and a metal film on top of the oxide. 

The Kelvin probe inspired the design of another solid-state device called the Suspended Gate Field-Effect Transistor (SGFET) (Blackburn et al., 1983). It resembles the Kelvin probe in that the gate conductor is suspended approximately 1 jU m above the gate insulator, thus forming a gap of a capacitor (Fig. 6.30). 

Field-effect transistors (Appendix C) are miniature cousins of the Kelvin probe. The most common is the insulated gate field-effect transistor. The heart of the insulated gate field-effect transistor is the Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS) capacitor. Let us form this capacitor from palladium (to be modulated by hydrogen), silicon dioxide (insulator), and p-type silicon (semiconductor), and examine the energy levels in this structure (Fig. 6.32). 

The surface field effect can be realized in a number of ways. The semiconductor can be built into a capacitor and an external potential applied (IGFET), or the field can arise from the chemical effects on the gate materials (CHEMFET). In both cases, change in the surface electric field intensity changes the density of mobile charge carriers in the surface inversion layer. The physical effect that is measured is the change in the electric current carried by the surface inversion layer, called the drain current. 

Pd MOS STRUCTURES The Pd MOS device (capacitor and field effect transistor) has been extensively studied as a model chemical sensor system and as a practical element for the detection of hydrogen molecules in a gas. There have been two outstanding reviews of the status of the Pd MOS sensor with primary emphasis on the reactions at the surface (7,8). In this section, the use of the device as a model chemical sensor will be emphasized. As will be seen, the results are applicable not only to the Pd based devices, they also shed light on the operation of chemfet type systems as well. Because of its simplicity and the control that can be exercised in its fabrication, the discussion will focus on the study of the Pd-MOSCAP structure exclusively. The insights gained from these studies are immediately applicable to the more useful Pd-MOSFET. 

Mode 2 devices which rely on a different detection principle are the Kelvin probe sensor and the CHEMFET. In the first case, a vibrating capacitor measures the change of the work function (see Figure 2), while in the second case the interaction is detected in the field-effect transistor mode.29 31... 

An organic field-effect transistor (FET) consists of a number of discrete layers, formed from insulating, semiconductor or electrically conducting material (Fig. 13.1). It can roughly be considered as a parallel plate capacitor, where one conducting electrode, the gate, is electrically insulated from the other electrode, which is... 

Central to electronics is the IV measurement—that is, the measurement of the electrical current I through a device, as a function of the electrical potential, or bias, or voltage V placed across it. Electrical devices are most often "passive" two-terminal devices (resistors, capacitors, inductors, rectifiers and diodes, NDR devices), or "active" three-terminal devices (triodes, bipolar junction transistors, or field-effect transistors (FET)). 

Valve metals are used in electronic components, such as tantalum capacitors, microwave field-effect transistors, gate materials, etc. 

Figure 1 shows the symbols of common elements used in electronic circuits. These can be classed as either passive components, such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and diodes, or active components, such as bipolar and field-effect transistors, and silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs). Some of the key features and physical characteristics of these devices are summarized in the first two sections of this chapter. 

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