Selective functionalization and loading of biomolecules in crystalline silicon nanotube field-effect-transistors

Abstract

Crystalline silicon nanotubes (Si NTs) provide distinctive advantages as electrical and biochemical analysis scaffolds through their unique morphology and electrical tunability compared to solid nanowires or amorphous/non-conductive nanotubes. Such potential is investigated in this report. Gate-dependent four-probe current–voltage analysis reveals electrical properties such as resistivity to differ by nearly 3 orders of magnitude between crystalline and amorphous Si NTs. Analysis of transistor transfer characteristics yields a field effect mobility of 40.0 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ in crystalline Si NTs. The hollow morphology also allows selective inner/outer surface functionalization and loading capability either as a carrier for molecular targets or as a nanofluidic channel for biomolecular assays. We present for the first time a demonstration of internalization of fluorescent dyes (rhodamine) and biomolecules (BSA) in Si NTs as long as 22 μm in length.