Signal-to-noise ratio in dual-gated silicon nanoribbon field-effect sensors

TL;DR

This paper investigates the 1/f noise in dual-gated silicon nanoribbon FET sensors and shows that optimizing gate voltage can significantly improve their detection sensitivity and accuracy.

Contribution

It demonstrates how operating in an optimal gate voltage range reduces contact noise and enhances the signal-to-noise ratio in silicon nanoribbon sensors.

Findings

Signal-to-noise ratio increased by nearly 100 times with optimal gating

Achieved 0.5% pH shift detection accuracy in 1 Hz bandwidth

Contact region noise minimized through gate voltage optimization

Abstract

Recent studies on nanoscale field-effect sensors reveal the crucial importance of the low frequency noise for determining the ultimate detection limit. In this letter, the 1/f-type noise of Si nanoribbon field-effect sensors is investigated. We demonstrate that the signal-to-noise ratio can be increased by almost two orders of magnitude if the nanoribbon is operated in an optimal gate voltage range. In this case, the additional noise contribution from the contact regions is minimized, and an accuracy of 0.5% of a pH shift in one Hz bandwidth can be reached.