Active CMOS Sensor Array For Electrochemical Biomolecular Detection
First Claim
1. A system for electrochemical sensing of biomolecules, comprising:
- an integrated circuit;
one or more working electrodes on the integrated circuit, the one or more working electrodes configured to receive one or more biomolecular probes, a desired potential maintained through one or more reference electrodes, the one or more working electrodes configured to form a portion of one or more corresponding potentiostats; and
a digitizing circuit on the integrated circuit configured to measure a signal indicative of a biomolecule sensing operation in real time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electrochemical sensing of biomolecules eliminates the need for bulky optical instruments required in traditional fluorescence-based sensing assays. Integration of the sensor interface electrodes and active electrochemical detection circuitry on CMOS substrates miniaturizes the sensing platform, enhancing portability for point-of-care applications, while enabling high-throughput, highly-parallel analysis. One embodiment includes a four-by-four active sensor array for multiplexed electrochemical biomolecular detection in a standard 0.25-μm CMOS process. Integrated potentiostats, including control amplifiers and dual-slope ADCs, stimulate the electrochemical cell and detect the current flowing through on-chip gold electrodes at each sensor site resulting from biomolecular reactions occurring on the chip surface. Post-processing techniques for fabricating biologically-compatible surface-electrode arrays in CMOS that can withstand operation in harsh electrochemical environments are described. Demonstrations showing example operation of the active CMOS array for biomolecular detection include cyclic voltammetry of a reversible redox species, DNA probe density characterization, and quantitative and specific DNA hybridization detection in real time.
106 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system for electrochemical sensing of biomolecules, comprising:
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an integrated circuit; one or more working electrodes on the integrated circuit, the one or more working electrodes configured to receive one or more biomolecular probes, a desired potential maintained through one or more reference electrodes, the one or more working electrodes configured to form a portion of one or more corresponding potentiostats; and a digitizing circuit on the integrated circuit configured to measure a signal indicative of a biomolecule sensing operation in real time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for electrochemical sensing of biomolecules, comprising:
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providing one or more working electrodes on an integrated circuit, a desired potential maintained through one or more reference electrodes, the one or more working electrodes configured to bind one or more biomolecular probes, the one or more working electrodes configured to form a portion of one or more corresponding potentiostats; and providing a digitizing circuit on the integrated circuit configured to receive a signal resulting from an electrochemical measurement operation to measure one or more aspects of a biomolecular reaction in real time. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of manufacture of a CMOS-based array for electrochemically measuring a biomolecular reaction, comprising:
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defining one or more openings in a passivation layer of a CMOS chip to expose a top metal layer; depositing an adhesion layer at one of the openings, the adhesion layer in electrical communication with the top metal layer; depositing a metal layer on the adhesion layer to form a working electrode at least one of the openings, the working electrode in electrical communication with the adhesion layer, the working electrode configured to bind one or more biomolecular probes, the working electrode configured to form a portion of a potentiostat; and electrically connecting an on-chip digitizing circuit to the working electrode, the digitizing circuit configured to measure an electrical signal resulting from the biomolecular reaction. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A system for electrochemical sensing of biomolecules, comprising:
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means for binding one or more biomolecular probes at one or more working electrodes of an integrated circuit, the integrated circuit including one or more working electrodes, a desired potential maintained through one or more reference electrodes, and a digitizing circuit on the integrated circuit configured to measure a signal indicative of a biomolecule sensing operation in real time, the one or more working electrodes configured to form a portion of one or more corresponding potentiostats; and means for performing an electrochemical measurement operation to measure one or more aspects of a biomolecular reaction in real time. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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Specification