Application of Photosynthetic Proteins in a Field-Effect Transistor for Low Light Intensity Detection

该奖项的目标是开发一种使用光合作用蛋白质作为超光敏元件的新型光学传感器。制造夜视数码相机和灵敏的芯片实验室设备需要超灵敏的光电探测器。由于硅基像素传感器的灵敏度较低，通常需要外部照明光源(即闪光灯)才能在微光条件下使用数码相机进行拍摄。光源影响图像质量(通过反射、阴影损失等)并且消耗更多的能量。高灵敏度光电晶体管矩阵可用于下一代相机，以提高医疗、工业和安全应用的图像质量。与硅不同，光合作用反应中心(RC)蛋白能够探测和响应由单个分子发射或反射的少数光子。在这项研究中，将在场效应晶体管(FET)中使用排列良好的RCS层来制造超灵敏光电探测器。除了低光强成像应用外，这种特殊类型的传感器还可以用于检测水中的污染物或芯片实验室设备中标记的病毒。这项拟议的研究将影响纳米技术、生物技术和电子学等多个领域，从材料表征到设备开发。这一研究将有助于理解生物材料在合成结构中的相互作用。利用光合作用蛋白质中电荷光产生的新机制，利用光合作用蛋白质作为器件的二次栅极来构造场效应晶体管。由薄膜硅和单壁碳纳米管(CNT)制成的两种不同的器件将被研究用于蛋白质附着和构建光电晶体管。在这项工作中，计划研究具有特定取向的碳纳米管和硅结合蛋白质的固定化方法，并研究场效应在蛋白质-绝缘体-半导体结构中的作用。最终，这种制造的器件将被用作芯片实验室设备中的光学传感器。将进行实验和理论研究，以了解使用来自蛋白质的场效应作为信号来调制半导体设备中的载流子的限制。此外，对蛋白质-绝缘体-半导体结构的研究将为在电子设备中使用生物材料带来更多挑战，并将转移到其他应用，如生物太阳能电池和仿生眼。

The objective of this award is to develop a new optical sensor using photosynthetic proteins as ultra-photosensitive elements. Ultra-sensitive photo-detectors are required for making night vision digital cameras and sensitive lab-on-a-chip devices. Due to the low sensitivity of the silicon-based pixel sensors, an external illumination source (i.e. flash) is usually required for photography in low light conditions with a digital camera. The light source affects the image quality (by reflection, loss of shadows, etc.) and consumes more power. A matrix of highly sensitive photo-transistors can be used in the next-generation cameras to enhance image qualities for medical, industrial, and security applications. In contrast to silicon, photosynthetic reaction center (RC) proteins are able to detect and respond to a few photons, emitted or reflected by individual molecules. In this research a well aligned layer of RCs will be employed in a field-effect transistor (FET) to make ultra-sensitive photo-detectors. In addition to the low light intensity imaging applications, this particular type of sensor can be used for detection of contaminants in water or labeled viruses in a lab-on-a-chip device. The proposed research will impact several areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and electronics, ranging from material characterization to device development. This research will help to understand the interaction of biomaterials in synthetic structures. Also, the knowledge will be useful to design and optimize other bio-electronics devices.Employing the novel mechanism of charge photo-generation in photosynthetic proteins, field-effect transistors will be fabricated using the proteins as the secondary gate of the devices. Two different devices made of thin film silicon and single wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) will be studied for the protein attachment and building the photo-transistors. In this work it is planned to study the immobilization approaches for binding the proteins to CNTs and silicon with specific orientations and to investigate the field effect in the protein-insulator-semiconductor structures. Ultimately, the fabricated device will be employed as an optical sensor in a lab-on-a-chip device. Both experimental and theoretical studies will be carried out to understand the limitations in using the field effect from a protein as a signal for modulating carriers in a semiconductor device. Also, the study of the protein-insulator-semiconductor structure will provide more insight to the challenges for using biological materials in electronic devices and will be transferable to other applications such as bio-solar cells and bionic eyes.