Tracking the propagation of individual ions through ion channels with nano-MOSFETs

In this paper, applying drift-diffusion numerical simulations, we investigate the possibility to use a nano-MOSFET in a close proximity to an ion channel to study the dynamics of the ion permeation though the channel. The simulations are carried out using a commercial semiconductor device simulator with transport parameters fine tuned to represent both the electronic transport in the transistor and the ion transport in the solutions. The use of continuous drift-diffusion simulators to represent separately the transport though ion channel according to Hess et al., (2001) has already been successfully demonstrated.