Robust ultrasensitive tunneling-FET biosensor for point-of-care diagnostics

For point-of-care (POC) applications, robust, ultrasensitive, small, rapid, low-power, and low-cost sensors are highly desirable. Here, we present a novel biosensor based on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible silicon nanowire tunneling field-effect transistor (SiNW-TFET). They were fabricated “top-down” with a low-cost anisotropic self-stop etching technique. Notably, the SiNW-TFET device provided strong anti-interference capacity by applying the inherent ambipolarity via both pH and CYFRA21-1 sensing. This offered a more robust and portable general protocol. The specific label-free detection of CYFRA21-1 down to 0.5 fgml(−1) or ~12.5 aM was achieved using a highly responsive SiNW-TFET device with a minimum sub-threshold slope (SS) of 37 mVdec(−1). Furthermore, real-time measurements highlighted the ability to use clinically relevant samples such as serum. The developed high performance diagnostic system is expected to provide a generic platform for numerous POC applications.