Hybrid biosensor concept combining biomolecular pre-amplification inside a microfluidic structure and highly-sensitive, temperature-controlled, multi-channel silicon nanowires

Tintelott, Marcel J.; Ingebrandt, Sven (Thesis advisor); Knoch, Joachim (Thesis advisor)

Aachen : RWTH Aachen University (2023)
Dissertation / PhD Thesis

Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 2023

Abstract

The present work deals with the development and characterization of a temperature controlled silicon nanowire sensor platform. The aim of this work is to use the fabricated sensor platform for the detection of clinically relevant miRNA sequences. For this purpose, a silicon nanowire transistor with integrated pseudo-reference electrodes and temperature sensors was designed and fabricated. The fabrication process was performed on a 4'' silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer. After the successful fabrication of the temperature controlled silicon nanowire sensor platform, it was linked to a temperature control unit. This is based on a designed proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. It was shown that the designed PID controller in combination with the integrated temperature sensor can heat up the sensor platform quickly and maintain the temperature with minimal deviations. In addition, biochemical reaction networks were designed for the detection of miRNA sequences. These are based on a combination of single-stranded DNA sequences and enzymes. This biochemical reaction network multiplies DNA sequences, providing a higher biological signal. Due to the higher DNA concentration, a higher signal change could be realized. Moreover, based on the dynamic behavior of the biochemical reaction network, a conclusion about the concentration can be drawn.

Institutions

• Chair of Micro- and Nanosystems and Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering [612510]