Application of nanotechnology to the design of modern day sensors.

Aisha Robinson, 620033594

University of the West Indies, Mona
Abstract - There is a great need for sensing and sensor technologies in a variety of fields in
today's research and applications. Nanotechnology is driving the development of new sensor
technology by miniaturizing many components resulting in better selectivity, sensitivity, providing
new power sources and improving power consumption. These improvements are leading to
improved acquisition of data and insight which will benefit greatly industries such as health care.

I.

INTRODUCTION

The most primitive form of sensing is that carried out by human bodies, our knowledge about the
world is limited to what we can deduce using our bodys sensing capabilities. However, curiosity
about our environments have led us to develop external aids to sensing so that we can gather
even more information. Typically a sensor (external to the human body) is a device that detects
and responds to input from the physical environment. The nature of the input could be light, heat,
motion, moisture, pressure, or any other environmental phenomena. Generally the output from
the sensor is some human readable indicator or data transferred electronically to be processes
further by a machine or read1. The same drive to know more about the environment has driven
the size of sensors to be smaller and faster. In order to facilitate this kind of development new
technologies have been created which allow for efficient sensing at miniscule scales.
Nanotechnology is one such development.
According to the United States
National Nanotechnology Initiative
website nanotechnology is the
understanding and control of matter
at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100
nm, where unique phenomena
enable novel applications2.
1 What is sensor? - Definition from WhatIs.com.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/sensor
2 What is Nanotechnology? http://www.nano.gov/

The ability to perceive and to control individual atoms and molecules allows scientists to both
reduce the dimensions of materials to produce features at a small scale (a great example of which
is the shrinking of transistor sizes in accordance with Moores law) as well as to build up devices
atom by atom to achieve very specific results. By examining, controlling and enhancing
interactions that occur at nanoscale, nanotechnology can enable the design of sensors that may
offer major advantages over conventional sensors. They may allow for greater selectivity and
sensitivity, cost less to produce (mass produce not necessarily development), display reduced
power consumption and be more stable as well.
This paper aims to describe some of the ways the application of nanotechnology is improving the
design of modern day sensors. It will explore how improvements in sensitivity, selectivity and
power consumption are achieved as well as describe some current and potential applications of
nanotechnology enabled sensors in areas such as healthcare.

II.

SENSITIVITY

Kalantar-zadeh and Fry (2008) define sensitivity as the ratio of incremental change in the output
of the sensor to its incremental change of the measurand in input. I.e. Change in output divided
by change input gives the sensitivity of a sensor. Nanotechnology has been used to improve
sensitivity in sensors for a variety of purposes. A good example is found in light sensing devices.
Light sensing devices generally produce a current in response to the level of light it is exposed
to. These sensors are useful for electronics applications where regulation of light output is
needed or desired such as energy usage monitoring and controlling the backlight of devices in
response to the level of environmental light. At the micro or nano scale light sensing can be used
to identify organisms which have known optical properties (I.e. the extent to which they absorb
or scatter light.
Nanotechnology impacts the performance of sensors at small scales by allowing for fine tune
adjustments to their operations. For example, light sensors which utilize the photoelectric effect
(where light incident on the material causes electrons to be emitted from it), nanostructured
surfaces allow the material to be tuned to respond to specific wavelengths of light.

Nanostructuring is also used to create a large surface to volume ratio thereby enhancing the
efficiency of the devices light-to-energy conversion. Also, for sensors utilizing the
photoconductivity effect (where photons landing on a semiconducting material causes its
conductivity to change due to free charge carriers being excited by the photons such as light
dependent resistors) can be made more sensitive with the use of nanomaterials. This is possible
because their charge depletion layer, which extends a few nanometers can become entirely
depleted of charge when exposed to light making the device more sensitive.

III.

SELECTIVITY

One of the properties of a good sensor is that it is sensitive to its measurand (the property it is
measuring) and insensitive to other inputs. Environmental factors such as vibration, shock,
temperature and humidity can have a negative impact on the performance of a sensor, therefore it
must be able to tolerate and discriminate between these factors and what it is sensing. This
property is extremely important in applications like gas sensing. According to Sharma and
Madou (2012), the performance of a gas sensor is foremost measured by its lower limit of
detection (LOD) and by its selectivity. The gas sensor with the lowest LOD is the one that
affords the detection of the lowest level of an analyte and a highly selective gas sensor enables
the detection of very minute amounts of the desired gas in a mixture of several other gases.
The selectivity of a gas sensor is related to the structure of the material used to fabricate the
sensor and the companion heating element which drives the detection. Detection is carried out by
the reactions at a heated Metal Oxide Semi-Conductor (MOS) surface. The reaction between the
gasses and the surface changes the concentration of electrons in the MOSs depletion layer, and
this in turn changes the conductance of the device as a function of the gas concentration. The
change in the resistance is influenced by several material-related factors such as the type of
semiconductor oxide material, the thickness of the oxide film, the size of the oxide grain
(because it affects the surface area), as well as temperature and time.

To achieve selectivity in these gas sensors, the reactions need to occur at an operating
temperature between 300C and 600C. At these temperatures, the method of adsorption3
changes from physisorption to chemisorption which is a far more selective process. To utilize
this effect, the sensing unit must feature a heating element that provides these desired
temperatures for the adsorption and desorption of oxygen gas and for the reaction of the analyte
gases with these reactive adsorbed oxygen species[2].
Both the heating element and the sensor material can be strongly influenced by miniaturization.
In their research Sharma and Madou reviewed the effect of nano-sizing on these types of sensors.
They found that reducing the size of the grains in an MOS gas-sensitive material leads to lower
operating temperatures, lower limits of detection, greater sensitivity, and faster response time.
Size reduction of the heating elements was also found to lead to lower overall power
consumption, faster heating and cooling, and improvements in the strength and durability of the
device (by reducing its susceptibility to cracks).

IV.

POWER SUPPLY AND CONSUMPTION

One of the promising applications of the use of nano-sized sensors is their ability to be implanted
in living systems such as the human body or in other natural environments and left to operate
untethered. These devices still need to be powered however and this presents both a challenge
and another opportunity for the use of nanotechnology in sensor design. It has been identified
that Low power consumption and/or local energy generation is important for long-term
unattended use of sensors. Work has also emerged demonstrating that nanomaterials can
transduce many environmental quantities to an electronic signal, and that oftentimes these
applications come with improved sensitivity and lower power consumption when compared to
conventional methods for powering sensors.
One of the ways in which nano materials are used to generate power is through the exploitation
of the piezoelectric effect. Nanogenerators, as these devices are called are able to harvest energy
3 Not to be confused with absorption, adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, or
molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid to a surface. This process creates a
film of the adsorbate on the surface of the adsorbent.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adsorption)

from their surroundings by converting mechanical energy (from being moved, or vibrated due to
its interactions with its environment) into electrical energy. Researchers at the Georgia Institute
of Technology have successfully created sensors to measure the pH of liquids or detect the
presence of ultraviolet light utilizing electrical current produced from mechanical energy in the
environment via nanogenerators [3].The nanogenerators used the piezoelectric effect, producing
electrical charges when wires made from zinc oxide are subjected to strain. The strain is
produced by flexing the wires and the current from many wires could be constructively
combined to provide enough current to power small devices.
Harvesting mechanical energy by piezoelectric materials is important because of its ability to
provide direct conversion of mechanical to electrical energy as well as its feasibility for
integrated applications. Piezoelectric nanomaterials have been found to outperform their larger
counterparts by demonstrating enhanced piezoelectric effects. They also display superior
mechanical properties and extreme sensitivity to small-level vibrations [7]. As a result
piezoelectric nanomaterials have been incorporated into nanogenerators of various structures for
mechanical energy harvesting over the past few years. The power output of these nanogenerators
have been improving making them more feasible for practical applications. High outputs with
open-circuit voltages up to 2.03 V and peak output power densities of approximately 11 mW per
cm3 have been reported [4], which is enough to power small electronics.

V.

IMPACT ON INDUSTRY - HEALTHCARE

The health care industry is one of those which will benefit the most form the applications of
nanotechnology to sensor design. This is largely due to the fact that nanosensors will improve the
efficiency of acquiring and analysis medical data to improve healthcare, while reducing the cost.
The crux of improved health care lies in the use of information technology methods to provide
fast and informed feedback and recommended courses of action for patient care. This depends on
the acquiring of accurate sensor data, organized storage and learning algorithms to make
recommendations. Nanotechnology can be applied to the remote sensing needs of such a system.
In fact it has been reasonably argued that remote data acquisition and transmission, even if
partially assisted by the use of medical devices and information communication technologies,
may reduce costs and free up time for medical professionals[8], resulting in better health care.

Two of the advances in medical technology for use as biosensors in health care are Quantum dots
and nano pores.
Quantum dots (QDs) are very promising candidates for medicinal purposes as biosensors and
labels in biological imaging. Quantum dots are nanoscale semiconductor devices that tightly
confine either electrons or electron holes in all three spatial dimensions4. They allow various
biomolecules to attach to their surface, which facilitates the detection of DNA and proteins.
Quantum dots are utilized in one of two ways for sensing, either solution or in planar form (i.e.
lab-on-chip) which can be deposited on various solid surfaces. QDs allow for onsite bio sensing
therefore reducing the time it takes to make diagnosis based on samples. It also lends itself easily
to applications which require an array of sensors for mass screening due to its simplicity of
detection.
Nano pores are also used as sensors at the DNA protein level. A nano pore is a nano-scale hole.
In its devices, when an ionic current is applied to a nano pores and a biological molecule is
passed through it the changes in current can be used to identify that molecule. This system can be
used to distinguish between the four standard DNA bases G, A, T and C, and also modified
bases. The ability to sequence DNA gives unprecedented access to data about human health and
health risks. It has provided for identification of and clues to understanding genetically linked
diseases such as Huntingtons disease. DNA sequencing also drives the field of
pharmacogenomics. This is a relatively new field which promises more personalised medicine by
studying how a person's individual genome variations affect their responses to certain drugs. This
information can be used to determine which drug would give the best outcome for a particular
patient. Currently individual genetic profiling is being used to prescribe treatments for patients
with HIV, breast cancer, lymphoblastic leukaemia and colon cancer and in the future may be
used to provide custom treatments for cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma, Alzheimer's
disease and depression [8].

VI.

CONCLUSION

4 Quantum dot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_dot)

Sensing and sensor technology has become extremely important to our livelihoods. Both in terms
of the data driven, data hungry habits that we have developed in science and for personal use and
in terms of the kind of information we need to make breakthroughs on those problems yet
unsolved like genetic diseases. Nano technology has proven through a variety of applications that
it is one of the major drivers in the development of new sensor technologies to fulfill these needs.
Its impact on sensitivity, selectivity and power of small scale sensor devices will lead to
important developments which will impact critical sector such as the health industry and by
extension our personal lives.

VII.

REFERENCES

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