Characteristics of the hydrogen ion-sensitive field effect transistors with sol–gel-derived lead titanate gate Original Research Article

The sol–gel-derived lead titanate (PbTiO3) membrane has been successfully applied as a pH sensitive layer to form the PbTiO3 gate ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET). There exhibit the excellent quasi-Nernstian response of 56–59 mV pH−1, good surface adsorption and anticorrosion characteristics via the C–V measurement of the EIS structure. At a specific pH concentration, the output and transfer characteristics are very similar to the behaviours of MOSFETs, and the ISFET model can be derived by the modified MOSFET model. As it operated in the nonsaturation region, there exhibits a linear pH response of about 56–59 mV pH−1. On the other hand, as it operated in the saturation region, the pH response and linearity can be controlled by adjusting the VGS values, e.g. the pH responses of −4.2, −24.8 and −31.3 μA pH−1 and the correlation coefficients of 0.9491, 0.9995 and 0.9996 at VGS=1, 3 and 5 V can be obtained, respectively. Besides, in order to get the best pH response and the minimized leakage current, the heat treatment temperature of the PbTiO3 membrane must be limited between 350 and 450 °C.