Overcoming the screening-induced performance limits of nanowire biosensors: A simulation study on the effect of electro-diffusion flow

Device-level simulation capabilities have been developed to self-consistently model the Si-nanowire (NW) biosensor systems. Our numerical study demonstrates that by introducing electro-diffusion current flow in the electrolyte solutions, the electrostatic screening of the biological charge can be significantly suppressed; an improvement of the sensed signal strength by >ap10X is indicated. Based on such an operation principle, the screening-induced performance limits on Si-NW biosensors can be overcome.