Gate effect, electrochemical

The ISFET is an electrochemical sensor based on a modification of the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). The metal gate of the MOSFET is replaced by a reference electrode and the gate insulator is exposed to the analyte solution or is coated with an ion-selective membrane as illustrated in Fig. 

Field-Effect Transistors (FETs) are part of all modern pH meters. With the introduction of ion-sensitive field-effect transistors, they have both been brought to the attention of chemists. In order to understand the principles of operation of these new electrochemical devices, it is necessary to include the FET in the overall discussion of the electrochemical cell. The outline of the operation of an insulated gate field-effect transistor is given in Appendix C. 

Fig. 6.30 Schematic diagram of the suspended gate field-effect transistor (SGFET). The selective layer is typically deposited electrochemically...

As a result of the effects of nonideal structures, second-order effects in parameters, and the numerous approximations made in the derivation of the current-voltage equations, (C.27) and (C.30) can only serve as a qualitative description of the actual device each individual design must be experimentally characterized. For these reasons it is advantageous to operate the FET in the constant drain current mode in which case a suitable feedback circuit supplies the gate voltage of the same magnitude but of the opposite polarity to that produced by the electrochemical part of the device. 

A major advantage is the potential to lock (and protect) written information in the photobistable material. A number of chemical gated systems involving mutual regulation of the photochromic event and, for instance, fluorescence, ion binding, or electrochemical properties have been reported.1501 Scheme 19 illustrates a chiral gated response system based on donor-acceptor substituted alkene 17.[511 The photochemical isomerization process of both the M-ds and the P-trans form was effectively blocked by the addition of trifluoroacetic acid. Protonation of the dimethyl-amine donor unit of M-rfs-17a and P-trons-17b resulted in an ineffective acceptor-acceptor (nitro and ammonium) substituted thioxanthene lower half. Since the stereoselective photoisomerization of 17 relies on the presence of both a donor and acceptor unit, photochemical switching could be restored by deprotonation by the addition of triethylamine. 

Ion-selective field-effect transistors (ISFETs) are ion sensors that combine the electric properties of gate-insulator field-effect transistors and the electrochemical properties of ion-selective electrodes (ISEs). ISFETs have attracted much attention for clinical and biomedical fields because they could contain miniaturized multiple sensors and could be routinely used for continuous in vivo monitoring of biological fluid electrolytes (e.g., Na+, K+, Ca +, Cl", etc.) during surgical procedures or at the bedside of the patients in clinical cate unit (2). 

Metals are good conductors of electricity and if the environment with which they are in contact is also conductive, then corrosion will occur via an electrochemical process. Notice that, in every case, the corrosion of the metal occurs due to interaction with its environment. Therefore, for metallic corrosion to occur, the metal or alloy must be unstable in that particular environment. Thus, changing the environment of a metal can greatly affect its rate of corrosion in either direction. For example, wrought iron gates will last indefinitely in a clean urban environment however, those same gates placed near the coastline would rapidly corrode due to the effects of salt spray from the ocean. 

Figure 2. (a) Schematic cross section of an organic field-effect transistor (OFET). (b) Schematic cross section of an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT). The applied source-drain voltage Vd and gate voltage Vg are also shown. 

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