title: A Multipurpose CMOS Platform for Nanosensing.
abstract: This paper presents a customizable sensing system based on functionalized nanowires (NWs) assembled onto complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The Micro-for-Nano (M4N) chip integrates on top of the electronics an array of aluminum microelectrodes covered with gold by means of a customized electroless plating process. The NW assembly process is driven by an array of on-chip dielectrophoresis (DEP) generators, enabling a custom layout of different nanosensors on the same microelectrode array. The electrical properties of each assembled NW are singularly sensed through an in situ CMOS read-out circuit (ROC) that guarantees a low noise and reliable measurement. The M4N chip is directly connected to an external microcontroller for configuration and data processing. The processed data are then redirected to a workstation for real-time data visualization and storage during sensing experiments. As proof of concept, ZnO nanowires have been integrated onto the M4N chip to validate the approach that enables different kind of sensing experiments. The device has been then irradiated by an external UV source with adjustable power to measure the ZnO sensitivity to UV-light exposure. A maximum variation of about 80% of the ZnO-NW resistance has been detected by the M4N system when the assembled 5 μ m × 500 nm single ZnO-NW is exposed to an estimated incident radiant UV-light flux in the range of 1 nW-229 nW. The performed experiments prove the efficiency of the platform conceived for exploiting any kind of material that can change its capacitance and/or resistance due to an external stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Center for Sustainables Futures@PoliTo, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, C.so Trento 21, 10129 Torino, Italy. ing.albertobonanno@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonanno
authors.affiliation: Electronics Design Laboratory (EDL), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Melen 83b, 16152 Genova, Italy. alessandro.sanginario@iit.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanginario
authors.affiliation: CNR-IMEM, Parco Area delle Scienze 37, 43124 Parma, Italy. simone.marasso@polito.it.
authors.forename: Simone L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Marasso
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy. beatrice.miccoli@polito.it.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Miccoli
authors.affiliation: Center for Sustainables Futures@PoliTo, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, C.so Trento 21, 10129 Torino, Italy. Katarzyna.Bejtka@iit.it.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bejtka
authors.affiliation: χ-Lab Materials and Microsystems Laboratory, DISAT, Politecnico di Torino, Via Lungo Piazza d'Armi 6, 10034 Chivasso, Italy. simone.benetto@polito.it.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benetto
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy. danilo.demarchi@polito.it.
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demarchi
keywords: CMOS interface; CMOS post-processing; multipurpose sensing platform; nanosenors; nanowires