Dielectric Modulated Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor—A Biomolecule Sensor

In this letter, we propose a dielectric modulated double-gate tunnel field-effect transistor (DG-TFET)-based sensor for low power consumption label-free biomolecule detection applications. A nanogap-embedded FET-based biosensor has already been demonstrated experimentally, but a TFET-based biosensor has not been demonstrated earlier. Thus, a concept of TFET-based sensor is presented by analytical and simulation-based study. The results indicate better sensitivity toward two different effects (dielectric constant and charge of biomolecule) in comparison with a FET-based biosensor, and the additional advantages of CMOS compatibility, low leakage (low static power dissipation), and steep subthreshold slope make TFET an attractive alternative architecture for CMOS-based sensor applications.