Performance improvement of commercial ISFET sensors using reactive ion etching
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Panteli, Christoforos
Georgiou, Pantelis
Fobelets, Kristel
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) is used to improve the performance of commercial Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Ion-Sensitive Field-Effect Transistors (ISFETs) by thinning the top passivation layers inherent of the CMOS fabrication process. Using a combination of O2 and SF6 in 50% ratio, both polyimide and Si3N4 layers are etched in one etching step. Etching for different times we find the right remaining layer thickness for best ISFET performance to be ∼1 μm of SiO2. The results show an increase in pH sensitivity of 125%, a 5700% increase in passivation capacitance and a 96% reduction in capacitive attenuation. The RIE etch recipe can be used on multi-project wafers (MPW) to boost CMOS sensor performance.
Date Issued
2018-05-15
Date Acceptance
2018-02-03
Citation
Microelectronic Engineering, 2018, 192, pp.61-65
ISSN
0167-9317
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
61
End Page
65
Journal / Book Title
Microelectronic Engineering
Volume
192
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000428828500010&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Physical Sciences
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Optics
Physics, Applied
Engineering
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Physics
Reactive ion etching
CMOS ISFET
SILICON-NITRIDE
TRAPPED CHARGE
PLASMA
MICROFLUIDICS
SURFACES
CMOS
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-02-04