Novel T-channel nanowire FET with built-in signal amplification for pH sensing

The low level of output signal in conventional silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) could limit their potential deployments as integrated chemical and biomedical sensors. We have proposed in this work a novel T-shape channel nanowire FET with a built-in signal amplification mechanism. Compared to the co-fabricated, conventional silicon nanowire FET sensors, we have experimentally extracted from the novel device a significant improvement of almost 50 times in pH detection sensitivity.