Ultrathin GaN/AlN/GaN solution-gate field effect transistor with enhanced resolution at low source-gate voltage

The pH response of a GaN/AlN/GaN solution-gate field effect transistor (SGFET), with a GaN/AlN barrier of 7.5 nm thick, is analyzed and compared with standard GaN/AlGaN/GaN SGFETs with total barrier thicknesses of 19 and 23 nm. While all types of SGFETs show a similar surface sensitivity to H+ ions, a significant improvement in the transducive sensitivity of the SGFET source-drain current under pH changes is found when decreasing the barrier thickness, due to the increased transconductance of the FET structure. Resolution better than 0.005 pH can be estimated in the case of the ultrathin SGFET. Moreover, the maximum transconductance value shifts to gate-drain voltage close to 0V, which eventually involves no need of reference electrode in less demanding applications, simplifying the final design of the device and making AlN barrier-based SGFETs highly recommended in the broad field of chemical sensors. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.