EEPROM Charge Sensors

The devices based on electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) structure are proposed for the detection of external electric charges. A large size charge contact window (CCW) extended from the floating gate is employed to immobilize external charges, and a control gate with stacked metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor is adapted for a standard single polysilicon CMOS process. When positive voltage is applied to the capacitor of CCW of an n-channel EEPROM, the drain current increases due to the negative shift of its threshold voltage. Also when a pre-charged external capacitor is directly connected to the floating gate metal of CCW, the positive charges of the external capacitor make the drain current increase for n-channel, whereas the negative charges cause it to decrease. For an p-channel, however, the opposite behaviors are observed by the external voltage and charges. With the attachment of external charges to the CCW of EEPROM inverter, the characteristic inverter voltage behavior shifts from the reference curve dependent on external charge polarity. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the EEPROM inverter is capable of detecting external immobilized charges on the floating gate. and these devices are applicable to sensing the pH`s or biomolecular reactions.