Study of Tunnel Field Effect Transistors for Biosensing Applications: A Review

The modern and advanced molecular biology require the reliable and cost-effective biosensing techniques for the detection of different biological species. The detection of wide range of such bio-molecular species is necessary for the successful prognosis and early-stage detection of serious mankind diseases. For this, FET-based biosensors have been addressed as the most promising candidates due to their ultra-sensitivity, mass production and low cost. Further, to take a potentially revolutionize step in the field of biosensing, tunnel field effect transistors (TFETs) were introduced. TFETs are hinged on the principle of quantum band-to-band-tunneling mechanism, which is helpful for suppressing the disadvantages of conventional MOS devices. In the field of biosensing, low detection time, low cost, mass productivity, high sensitivity and good reliability are the need of the time. Therefore, to further promote the understanding of TFET based biosensors, this review article presents different TFET based device structures along with their sensitivity for biosensing applications. In the end of this article, the status map of different TFET-based biosensors is presented in terms of their drain current sensitivity. This status map of biosensor is helpful to envision next steps in medical and clinical researches.