Compact model of a pH sensor with depletion-mode silicon-nanowire field-effect transistor

Abstract

A compact model of a depletion-mode silicon-nanowire (Si-NW) pH sensor is proposed. This drain current model is obtained from the Pao-Sah integral and the continuous charge-based model, which is derived by applying the parabolic potential approximation to the Poisson's equation in the cylindrical coordinate system. The threshold-voltage shift in the drain-current model is obtained by solving the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation for the electrolyte. The simulation results obtained from the proposed drain-current model for the Si-NW field-effect transistor (SiNWFET) agree well with those of the three-dimensional (3D) device simulation, and those from the Si-NW pH sensor model also agree with the experimental data.