High Performance Dielectrically Modulated Germanium Source Extended Double Gate Tunnel Field Effect Transistor for Biosensing Applications

This study investigates the potential of a dielectrically-modulated Germanium source-extended double gate tunnel field-effect transistor (Ge-SE DG TFET) as a highly effective biosensor for the detection of vital biomolecules, including vitamins, proteins, and amino acids. We thoroughly analyze the device’s linear characteristics, sensitivity, and selectivity, along with its analog figure of merits (FOMs). The results indicate that negatively charged biomolecules have 58% greater sensitivity (S) than neutral ones, while neutral biomolecules show 93% better selectivity (\(\:\varDelta\:S\)) than the negatively charged ones. Self-heating effects (SHE) at 310 K are effectively mitigated through the use of a low bandgap Germanium source and an extended source, which reduces power density and improves heat dissipation. The proposed device is benchmarked with recent reported TFET biosensors and showcases better overall performance metrics, with a transconductance (g _m ) of 12 mS, a very high cut-off frequency (f _T ) of 2 THz, and S of 6.95 × 10 ¹¹ . These results highlight the Ge-SE DG TFET’s feasibility for incorporation into low-power, high-speed biosensing systems for next-generation biosensing applications.