Physics of Carbon Nanotube Devices

Chapter 8. Chemical and Biological Sensors

Chemical and biological sensors are found across a broad range of application areas. An ideal sensor is one with high sensitivity, fast response time, selectivity, and compactness. Achieving this goal is difficult, and current sensor technologies utilize a variety of approaches, often relying on optical techniques. As progress in the miniaturization of electronic components is continued, electronic detection of chemical and biological species may provide an alternative to these established technologies. In its simplest form, electronic detection measures the change in conductivity of a material upon exposure to analytes. One aspect of electronic sensing that can benefit from nanomaterials is the sensitivity, ...