Dielectrophoresis-Enhanced Graphene Field-Effect Transistors for Nano-Analyte Sensing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel graphene-based dielectrophoresis (DEP) field-effect transistor (FET) device that enhances nanoparticle trapping and enables rapid electrical detection, advancing nano-analyte sensing capabilities.

Contribution

The work develops a multi-mode graphene DEP-FET device with engineered nano-sites, significantly improving trapping efficiency and enabling real-time electrical sensing of nanoparticles.

Findings

Trapping efficiency >90% with nano-sites

Rapid detection of gold nanoparticles in 4.1 seconds

Enhanced trapping density via segmented channels

Abstract

Dielectrophoretic (DEP) sensing is an extremely important sensing modality that enables the rapid capture and detection of polarizable particles of nano-scale size. This makes it a versatile tool for applications in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and materials science. Because DEP relies upon the creation of sharp electrode edges, its sensitivity is fundamentally limited by the electrode thickness. Graphene, with its monolayer thickness, enables scaling of the DEP force, allowing trapping of particles at graphene edges at ultra-low voltages. However, to date, this enhanced trapping efficiency of graphene has not been translated into an effective sensing geometry. Here, we demonstrate the expansion of graphene DEP trapping capability into a graphene field effect transistor (GFET) geometry that allows the trapped particles to be electrically detected. This four-terminal multi-functional hybrid device structure operates in three distinct modes: DEP, GFET, and DEP-GFET. By segmenting the channel of the GFET into multiple parallel channels, greatly increased density of particle trapping is demonstrated using fluorescence microscopy analysis. We show further enhancement of the trapping efficiency using engineered "nano-sites," which are holes in the graphene with size on the order of 200-300 nm. Scanning electron microscope analysis of immobilized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) shows trapping efficiency >90% for properly engineered nano-sites. Using nano-site trapping, we also demonstrate real-time, rapid electrical sensing of AuNPs, with >2% current change occurring in 4.1 seconds, as well as rapid sensing of a variety of biomolecule-coated nanoparticles. This work shows that graphene DEP is an effective platform for nanoparticle and bio-molecule sensing that overcomes diffusion-limited and Brownian motion-based interactions.