Probing flow velocity with silicon nanowire sensors

We report our experimental efforts to quantify the impact of fluidic and ionic transport on the conductance level of silicon nanowire (SiNW) sensors configured as field effect transistors (FETs). Specifically, the conductance of SiNW FETs placed in a microfluidic channel was observed to change linearly with the flow velocity of electrolytic solutions. The direction of conductance change depends on the doping type of the SiNWs and their location inside the microfluidic channel, and the magnitude of the conductance change varies with the ionic strength and compositions of the electrolytic solution. Our quantitative analysis suggests that the flow velocity sensing is a consequence of the streaming potential that is generated by the movement of counterions inside the electrical double layer (EDL) of the silica substrate. The streaming potential, which varies with the flow velocity and the ionic properties of the electrolytic solution, acts in the same way as the charged analytes in affecting the conductance of SiNWs by changing the surface potential. This study highlights the importance of considering the ionic transport in analyzing and optimizing nanowire FET sensors, which can significantly change the conductance of NWs. Moreover, SiNWs were demonstrated for the first time to be able to detect the streaming potential, the flow velocity and the ionic strength, opening up their new application potentials in microfluidics.