Semiconductor Nanowire based CMOS Compatible Field-Effect Transistor Biosensors for Ultrasensitive Detection of Biological Species

The ability to optically, electrically and magnetically detect the state of biological systems and species is continually being researched. Even though optical & magnetic procedures continue to grow and evolve, electrical detection methods, by-far, continue to remain the most desirable. Nanowires (NW) have emerged as powerful platforms for creating robust, sensitive and selective electrical sensor for biological detection. These NW have been custom created & modified to be used for electrochemical biosensing, owing to their miniaturizing properties and effective recognition abilities. Moreover their 1-Dimensional morphology offers significant improvements in sensitivity & specificity.This paper specifically deals with the study of common and technologically relevant semiconductor materials, such as those of Silicon (Si) & Zinc Oxide (ZnO), which have currently become the face of interdisciplinary bio-electrochemical research. The effect of thermal annealing as well as surface defect passivation on various electrical transport properties for highly selective pathogen sensing have been discussed. Surface functionalization & fluid exchange characteristics of SiNW and ZnO based sensing channels have been observed to offer promising prospects in the discipline of Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) compatible Field-Effect Transistor (FET) biosensing. Operations such as DNA sensing, drug discovery and pathogen detection by the usage of semiconductor NW devices have been reviewed. Further, the paper also addresses the advantages and disadvantages of building-up such NW based electronic devices.