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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Ultrasensitive Detection of Biomarkers by Using a Molecular Imprinting Based Capacitive Biosensor
Published on: February 16, 2018
Portable Measurement System for the Characterization of Capacitive Field-Effect Sensors
Tobias Karschuck1,2, Stefan Schmidt1,3, Stefan Achtsnicht1
1Institute of Nano- and Biotechnologies, FH Aachen, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Abstract:
A user-friendly, portable, low-cost readout system for the on-site or point-of-care characterization of chemo- and biosensors based on an electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor capacitor (EISCAP) has been developed using a thumb-drive-sized commercial impedance analyzer. The system is controlled by a custom Python script and allows to characterize EISCAP sensors with different methods (impedance spectra, capacitance-voltage, and constant-capacitance modes), which are selected in a user interface. The performance of the portable readout system was evaluated by pH measurements and the detection of the antibiotic penicillin, hereby using EISCAPs consisting of Al/p-Si/SiO2/Ta2O5 structures and compared to the results obtained with a stationary commercial impedance analyzer. Both the portable and the commercial systems provide very similar results with almost perfectly overlapping recorded EISCAP signals. The new portable system can accelerate the transition of EISCAP sensors from research laboratories to commercial end-user devices.
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