Open AccessOptimal signal-to-noise ratio for silicon nanowire biochemical sensors
Author(s) -
Nitin K. Rajan,
David A. Routenberg,
Mark A. Reed
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
applied physics letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 442
eISSN - 1077-3118
pISSN - 0003-6951
DOI - 10.1063/1.3608155
Subject(s) - transconductance , figure of merit , signal to noise ratio (imaging) , nanowire , materials science , silicon , noise (video) , transistor , optoelectronics , silicon nanowires , field effect transistor , signal (programming language) , electrolyte , limit (mathematics) , aspect ratio (aeronautics) , electrode , electrical engineering , physics , computer science , voltage , optics , mathematics , engineering , mathematical analysis , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics) , programming language
The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for silicon nanowire field-effect transistors operated in an electrolyte environment is an essential figure-of-merit to characterize and compare the detection limit of such devices when used in an exposed channel configuration as biochemical sensors. We employ low frequency noise measurements to determine the regime for optimal SNR. We find that SNR is not significantly affected by the electrolyte concentration, composition, or pH, leading us to conclude that the major contributions to the SNR come from the intrinsic device quality. The results presented here show that SNR is maximized at the peak transconductance.
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