AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition
    MEMS and NEMS Monday Sessions
       Session MN+AS+SS-MoM

Invited Paper MN+AS+SS-MoM1
Enhancing Selectivity and Sensitivity of Microfabricated Sensors using Multi-Scale Interactions

Monday, October 28, 2013, 8:20 am, Room 102 A

Session: Fabrication and Multi-scale Interactions of Materials, Surfaces, and Interfaces at the Micro- and Nano-scale
Presenter: T.G. Thundat, University of Alberta, Canada
Correspondent: Click to Email

Achieving selectivity and sensitivity simultaneously in microfabricated chemical sensors has been a longstanding challenge. Chemical selectivity based on immobilized chemoselective receptors on sensor surfaces fails to achieve speciation in complex environments due to the generality of molecular interactions. However, by incorporating functions which can provide orthogonal signals, it is possible to achieve selectivity, sensitivity, and fast regeneration in miniature sensors. Modulating the physical properties of the surface adsorbed target molecules provides multi-scale information which can be analyzed for molecular recognition. The physical patterning of the sensor surface increases the number of target molecules adsorbed on the surface which results in higher sensitivity. I will discuss recent advances in the integration of multimodal signal generation onto a single platform in microfabricated sensors in order to achieve selectivity, sensitivity, and fast regeneration.