Floating gate semiconductor nanostructure-based biosensor and method for manufacturing same
11460433 · 2022-10-04
Assignee
Inventors
- Sung-Keun YOO (Sejong-si, KR)
- Seung-Wan SEO (Seoul, KR)
- Jeong-A KIM (Cheongju-si, KR)
- Dong-Jun Moon (Cheongju-si, KR)
Cpc classification
H01L29/42324
ELECTRICITY
B82Y10/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G01N27/4145
PHYSICS
International classification
H01L29/06
ELECTRICITY
G01N27/414
PHYSICS
H01L29/423
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
In a floating gate semiconductor nanostructure biosensor and a method for manufacturing the biosensor, the nanostructure biosensor includes a substrate, an insulating layer, a nanostructure, a source electrode and a drain electrode, a floating gate and a biological sensing material. The insulating layer is formed on the substrate. The nanostructure is protruded from the insulating layer. The source electrode and the drain electrode are formed on the insulating layer and dispose the nanostructure therebetween. The floating gate has a metal pattern or a polysilicon pattern, and extends with contacting the nanostructure. The biological sensing material has a first end combined with an immobile molecule on the floating gate, and a second end combined with a bio molecule.
Claims
1. A nanostructure biosensor comprising: a substrate; an insulating layer formed on the substrate; a nanostructure protruded from the insulating layer; a source electrode and a drain electrode formed on the insulating layer and disposing the nanostructure therebetween; a floating gate having a metal pattern or a polysilicon pattern, extending with and contacting the nanostructure; a biological sensing material having a first end combined with an immobile molecule on the floating gate, and a second end combined with a bio molecule; a passivation layer formed on the source electrode, the drain electrode and the insulating layer; and a liquid gate formed on the floating gate or formed in a same plane with the floating gate, and configured to be functioned as a reference electrode for uniformly maintaining a voltage of a sample solution or configured to apply the voltage to the sample solution, wherein the passivation layer is not formed directly on a top surface of the floating gate, and thus the floating gate is partially exposed to an outside.
2. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a conductive substrate or an insulating substrate, wherein the substrate is configured to be a lower electrode when the substrate is the conductive substrate.
3. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 1, wherein the nanostructure has a wire shape.
4. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 1, wherein the nanostructure is a P-type channel or an N-type channel.
5. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 1, wherein the nanostructure is one selected from a group having ZnO, GaN, SiC, SnO.sub.2, GaP, BN, InP, Si.sub.3N.sub.4, Si and a mixture thereof.
6. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 1, wherein the floating gate comprises: a first end making contact with the nanostructure; a second end on which the biological sensing material and the immobile molecule are formed; and a connecting portion connecting the first end with the second end.
7. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 6, wherein the first end covers a surface of the nanostructure.
8. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 6, wherein the second end has a width larger than that of the first end, wherein the second end is a sensing area in which the biomolecule is sensed.
9. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 1, wherein a gate silicon oxide layer is formed between the floating gate and the nanostructure.
10. The nanostructure biosensor of claim 1, wherein conductivity of the nanostructure is changed as the biological sensing material is combined with the biomolecule, wherein the conductivity of the nanostructure is restored as the biomolecule is detached from the biological sensing material.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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(13) TABLE-US-00001 * Reference numerals 100: nanostructure biosensor 110: substrate 120: insulating layer 130: passivation layer 200: nanostructure 210: gate silicon oxide layer 300: source electrode 310: drain electrode 400: floating gate 401: first end 402: connecting portion 403: second end 410: immobile molecule 420: biological sensing material 500: liquid gate
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(14) The invention is described more fully hereinafter with Reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
(15) The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
(16) The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown.
(17)
(18) Referring to
(19) Here, as illustrated in
(20) The insulating layer 120 is formed on the substrate 110. The insulating layer 120 may include oxide or nitride based material such as a silicon oxide layer or a silicon nitride layer, to prevent the source electrode 300 and the drain electrode 310 from being electrically connected to the floating gate 400.
(21) For example, the silicon oxide layer may be high density plasma (HDP) layer, boron phosphorus silicate glass (BPSG) layer, phosphorus silicate glass (PSG) layer, plasma enhanced tetraethylosilicate (PETEOS) layer, un-doped silicate glass (USG) layer, fluorinated silicate glass (FSG) layer, carbon doped oxide (CDO) layer and organic silicate glass (OSG) layer.
(22) In addition, the insulating layer 120 may include at least one selected from a group including a metal oxide like Al.sub.2O.sub.3, HFO.sub.2, an organic layer like self-assembled monolayer (SAM), and a photoresist.
(23) The insulating layer 120 may include an insulating thin-film having silicon oxide, a photoresist, or an insulating thin-film except for the photoresist. In addition, the insulating layer and the nanostructure may be formed using a silicon-on-insulator substrate having an insulator and a structural layer.
(24) The nanostructure 200 functioned as the semiconductor is protruded from the insulating layer 120. The nanostructure 200 may be arranged on the insulating layer 120 using Languir-Blodgett (LB) method or flow method.
(25) The nanostructure 200 may be etched on the insulating layer, using an etching mask. In addition, the etching of the nanostructure 200 may be formed with a dry etching or a wet etching.
(26) The nanostructure 200 may have a wire shape, and the shape of the nanostructure 200 may be changed variously.
(27) For example, the nanostructure 200 may be a nano wire shape as illustrated in the figure.
(28) The nanostructure 200 has a diameter or a thickness with a nano scale, for example, the nanostructure 200 may be a structure with the diameter or the thickness of several nano meters or dozens of nano meters.
(29) The nanostructure 200 may be one selected from a group having ZnO, GaN, SiC, SnO.sub.2, GaP, BN, InP, Si.sub.3N.sub.4, Si and a mixture thereof.
(30) The nanostructure 200 may include a core, and at least one shell covering the core.
(31) The nanostructure 200 may be formed as a P-type channel or an N-type based on impurities.
(32) Referring to
(33) The source electrode 300 is formed on the insulating layer 120 and is disposed at a first side of the extending direction of the nanostructure 200. The drain electrode 310 is formed on the insulating layer 120 and is disposed at a second side of the extending direction of the nanostructure 200.
(34) The source electrode 300 and the drain electrode 310 face each other, with disposing the nanostructure 200 therebetween.
(35) Each of the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310 has predetermined width, length and thickness, as illustrated in
(36) For example, electrode shapes of the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310 are formed via photolithography, Pd/Au layer is formed via thermal deposition and then lift-off process is used for finally forming the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310.
(37) The floating gate 400 includes a metal or a polysilicon pattern, and is formed on the insulating layer 120. The floating gate 400 is disposed between the source electrode 300 and the drain electrode 310, and the floating gate 400 is spaced apart from both of the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310.
(38) In the present example embodiment, as illustrated in
(39) A width of the surface of the nanostructure 200 making contact with the floating gate 400 may be a micro or nano size. A gate silicon oxide layer 210 having relatively thin thickness may be further formed between the floating gate 400 and the nanostructure 200.
(40) In
(41) Alternatively, the extending direction of the floating gate 400 may be variously changed, based on the positon between the nanostructure 200 and a second end 403.
(42) The floating gate 400 includes a first end 401, a connecting portion 402 and a second end 403.
(43)
(44) Referring to
(45) In addition, although not shown in the figure, when the nanostructure 200 has a cubic shape, the first end 401 may cover all surfaces of the nanostructure 200 except for a bottom surface of the nanostructure 200.
(46) Referring to
(47) The immobile molecule 410 fixing the biological sensing material 420 is positioned at the second end 403. Here, the biological sensing material 420 is a biological active material. The biological sensing material 420 is immobilized by the immobile molecule 410, and thus the second end 403 is a sensing area where biological reaction occurs.
(48) The second end 403 is a portion of the floating gate 400, and thus any biological active material may be immobilized at any position of the floating gate 400.
(49) In the present example embodiment, the biological sensing material 420 like an antibody, is immobilized at the immobile molecule 410, for the biological reaction which is the key function of the biosensor.
(50) The second end 403 senses the biomolecules, and the second end 403 may include the material having the electrical characteristics changed by an external electric field.
(51) For example, the second end 403 may include crystalline silicon non-crystalline silicon, a doping layer doped with impurities, a semiconductor layer, an oxide layer, a compound layer, a CNT, or a semiconductor nanowire. In addition, the second end 403 may be a nano size to increase the sensitivity of the biosensor 100.
(52) A first end of the biological sensing material 420 is fixed to the second end 403, using the immobile molecule 410 which is an intervening medium molecule. A second end of the biological sensing material 420 is combined with the biomolecule having specific temperament.
(53) For example, the biological sensing material 420 may be a protein molecule, nucleic acid, an organic molecule, an inorganic molecule, an oxide or a metal oxide.
(54) The protein molecule may be any kinds of biomolecules like an antibody, an antigen, a substrate protein, an enzyme or a coenzyme.
(55) The nucleic acid may be one of DNA, RNA, PNA, LNA or a mixture or a hybrid thereof.
(56) In addition, the surface of the second end 403 is treated such that the immobile molecule 410 fixes the biological sensing material 420 more hard. For example, a functional group may be induced on the surface of the second end 403, to fix the biological sensing material 420 on the surface of the second end more hard.
(57) For example, the functional group may include carbonyl, carboxylic, amine, imine, epoxy, nitro, hydroxyl, phenyl, nitryl, thiol or silane.
(58) The connecting portion 402 extended from the first end 401, connects the first end 401 with the second end 403.
(59) The passivation layer 130 is coated on the source electrode 300, the drain electrode 310 and the insulating layer 120, as illustrated in
(60) The passivation layer 130 may include phosphosilicate, silicon nitride, oxy nitride, photo resist polymer, and may be formed via chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, spin coating or spray coating.
(61) The thickness of the passivation layer 130 is not limited, and may be selected variously. For example, the thickness of the passivation layer 130 may be between about 5 nm and about 50 μm, between about 10 nm and about 30 μm, or between about 15 nm and about 20 μm.
(62) In addition, the thickness of the passivation layer 130 may be measured by the conventional measurement device.
(63) The shape of the passivation layer 130 is not limited and may be formed variously.
(64) For example, the passivation layer 130 may be entirely formed over the substrate 110, or may be partially formed at the substrate.
(65) The passivation layer 130 is partially etched or patterned to form an opening 10 through which the floating gate 400 is exposed. Here, the second end 403 of the floating gate 400 is exposed outside through the opening 10.
(66) Alternatively, as explained below referring to
(67) A sample solution including the biomolecules which are to be detected, is provided on the surface of the second end 403.
(68) Here, the biomolecules in the sample solution, includes probe molecules and non-specific molecules. The sample solution may include a body fluid such as a blood, a blood plasma, a blood serum, an interstitial fluid, a lavage, perspiration, salvia, urine and so on.
(69) The liquid gate 500 is formed over the floating gate 400, or is formed at the same plane as the floating gate 400. The liquid gate 500 is functioned as a reference electrode for uniformly maintaining the voltage of the solution. In addition, the liquid gate 500 applies the voltage to the liquid, to control the electric transfer characteristics of the biosensor 100 or the sensitivity of the biosensor 100.
(70) The biological sensing material 420 is combined with the biomolecules in the sample solution. The biomolecule has an electrical charge, and thus, as the biomolecule is combined with the biological sensing material 420, the amount of the current flowing in the nanostructure 200 may be changed when the voltage is applied to the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310.
(71) As the density of the electrical charge of the surface of the biological sensing material 420 immobilized on the surface of the second end 403 is changed, the change of the electrical charge applied to the floating gate is measured.
(72) For example, when the biological sensing material 420 is combined with the biomolecule, the surface energy of the floating gate 400 is changed due to the electrical charge in the biomolecule. Then, the surface energy is transferred to the nanostructure 200, and thus the internal energy and the conductivity of the nanostructure 200 are also changed.
(73) In contrast, as the biomolecule is detached from the biological sensing material 420, the internal energy and the conductivity of the nanostructure 200 are restored.
(74) Accordingly, the change of the conductivity of the nanostructure 200 due to the biomolecule is measured, to quantify concentration of the biomolecule in the sample solution.
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(76) The biosensors 103 and 104 according to the present example embodiment are substantially same as the biosensor 100 according to the previous example embodiment in
(77) Referring to
(78)
(79) The biosensor 105 according to the present example embodiment is substantially same as the biosensors 100, 103 and 104 according the previous example embodiment in
(80) Referring to
(81)
(82) Referring to
(83) The substrate 110 may be one selected from a group having glass, quartz, silicone, polymer plastic, germanium, metal, oxide and a mixture thereof. The substrate 110 may be an insulating substrate or a conductive substrate.
(84) The insulating layer 120 may include oxide or nitride based material such as a silicon oxide layer or a silicon nitride layer, to prevent the source electrode 300 and the drain electrode 310 from being electrically connected to the floating gate 400.
(85) The insulating layer 120 may include an insulating thin-film having silicon oxide, a photoresist, or an insulating thin-film except for the photoresist. In addition, the insulating layer and the nanostructure may be formed using a silicon-on-insulator substrate having an insulator and a structural layer.
(86) Then, referring to
(87) The nanostructure 200 may be formed on the insulating layer 120, using languir-blodgett (LB) method or a flow method. The nanostructure 200 is etched on the insulating layer 120 using the etching mask, and here, the etching of the nanostructure 200 may be formed via the wet etching or the dry etching.
(88) The source electrode 300 is disposed at a first side of the nanostructure 200, and the drain electrode 310 is disposed at a second side of the nanostructure 200. Here, the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310 are formed on the insulating layer 120.
(89) Here, each of the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310 has a predetermined width, length and thickness.
(90) For example, electrode shapes of the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310 are formed via photolithography, Pd/Au layer is formed via thermal deposition and then lift-off process is used for finally forming the source and drain electrodes 300 and 310.
(91) Referring to
(92) Then, referring to
(93) The passivation layer includes phosphosilicate, silicon nitride, oxy nitride, photo resist polymer, and is formed via chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, spin coating or spray coating.
(94) The floating gate 400 includes the first end 401 making contact with the surface of the nanostructure 200, the second end 402 at which the biological sensing material 420 and the immobile molecule 410 are positioned, and the connecting portion 402 extending from the first end 401 to connect the first end 401 with the second end 403.
(95) Then, the passivation layer 130 is etched or patterned, to form the opening 10 exposing the second end 403, which is the portion of the floating gate 400.
(96) Then, referring to
(97) Finally, referring to
(98) The liquid gate 500, as explained referring to
(99) Here, the biological sensing material 420 is combined with the biomolecule provided from outside, and then the biomolecule is sensed in the floating gate 400.
(100)
(101) The method according to the present example embodiment is substantially same as the method according to the previous example embodiment in
(102) Referring to
(103) According to the present example embodiments, in the floating gate semiconductor nanostructure biosensor, an extending gate having an enlarged sensing surface is used as a floating gate, and thus, the high sensitivity of the semiconductor nanostructure in itself is maintained, and the combination probability between the biomolecule and the nanostructure is increased to enhance the reproducibility, the stability and the characteristics to the reaction time.
(104) In addition, the nanostructure is not directly exposed to a sample solution, and thus the nanostructure may be used as the biosensor.
(105) Here, conduction drift caused by diffusion and penetration of ions inside of the sample solution into the sensor may be improved, compared that the sample solution is directly penetrated into the inside of the nanostructure.
(106) In addition, in the conventional nanostructure biosensor, the nanostructure is mounted on a silicon substrate on which a glass substrate or a silicon oxide film is formed, and thus the biological sensing material is hard to be fixed only on the nanostructure. In contrast, in the present example embodiments, the extending gate structure is used to differentiate the material from the nanostructure or the substrate, and thus self-assembled material selectively attached to the extending gate and the surface treating chemistry are used to selective provide the biological sensing material to the sensing area.
(107) In addition, in the conventional nanostructure biosensor, the insulation on the portions except for the sensing area, is very important for exposing the nanostructure to the sample, but the insulation is harder as the length of the channel decreases. In addition, the source and drain electrodes providing the current and the voltage to the nanostructure are formed under the microchannel through which a fluid flows, and thus the signal interference may be easily caused. In contrast, in the present example embodiment, the extending gate is used for separating the sensing area with the nanostructure spatially, and thus the sensing area may be exposed to the solution more easily. In addition, the interference of the solution with the electrodes may be prevented, so that the stability of the nanostructure sensor may be increased.
(108) In addition, in the conventional nanostructure biosensor, the channel is directly exposed to the solution and the biosensor is operated in the air or the biosensor has characteristics different from those of FET properly insulated by an insulator. In contrast, in the present example embodiment, the extending gate is used, so that the conventional CMOS process architecture is used without change. Thus, in developing and commercializing the biosensor, the conventional simulation tool and the conventional library may be easily used.
(109) Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described, it is understood that the present invention should not be limited to these exemplary embodiments but various changes and modifications can be made by one ordinary skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed.