Probe-free semiconducting silicon nanowire platforms for biosensing

This chapter discusses implementation of silicon nanowires (SiNW) for probe-free biosensing and their integration with microfluidic chambers for small volume sample confinement and delivery to an automated biosensor platform. The SiNW biosensor platform consists of three key elements: SiNW sensors, the probe layer for specific binding to a particular target molecule and gate voltage generation, and controlled delivery of small sample volumes that enables quantitative hybridization kinetics assessment directly from the real-time measurements. Advantages and disadvantages of using the nanoscale SiNW biosensors, and approaches to reduce the limitations are discussed. The chapter concludes with future trends and overall outlook