AVS 52nd International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Thursday Sessions
       Session BI-ThA

Paper BI-ThA3
Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofiber Array Integrated with Active-Addressed Thin Film Transistors for Intra/Extracellular Stimulus and Measurement

Thursday, November 3, 2005, 2:40 pm, Room 311

Session: Bionanotechnology
Presenter: S.-I. Jun, The University of Tennessee
Authors: S.-I. Jun, The University of Tennessee
P.D. Rack, The University of Tennessee
T. McKnight, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
A.V. Melechko, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
M.L. Simpson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNF) have been used as nanoscaled electrodes for electroanalysis and as nanostructured scaffolds for delivering biological material into live cells. Thin film transistors (TFTs) have long demonstrated their effectiveness for driving, switching, and read-out capabilities in many microelectronic applications. In this study, we have fabricated and characterized a 20X20 active matrix thin film transistor array with integrated vertically aligned carbon nanofibers grown from Ni catalyst by direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (DC-PECVD). This integrated device provides great potential to perform direct cell sensing, probing, and recording with a high electrode density and active addressing. Consequently, actively addressed nanofiber arrays can offer bi-directional interfacing with tissue matrices using intercellular positioning of electrode elements as well as the potential for intracellular residence of probes within individual cells. For this device, each film in the TFT array was fabricated by an rf magnetron sputtering process with DC substrate bias at a substrate temperature below 200°C. In this presentation, we will demonstrate the process flow of the inverted metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor and the nanofiber integration scheme. The electrical characteristics of the transistor will be discussed and the electrochemical characteristics of the TFT addressed array in various biological electrolyte solutions will be presented.