Cortisol is a hormone released in response to stress and is a major glucocorticoid produced by adrenal glands. Here, we report a wearable sensory electronic chip using label-free detection, based on a platinum/graphene aptamer extended gate field effect transistor (EG-FET) for the recognition of cortisol in biological buffers within the Debye screening length. The device shows promising experimental features for real-time monitoring of the circadian rhythm of cortisol in human sweat. We report a hysteresis-free EG-FET with a voltage sensitivity of the order of 14 mV/decade and current sensitivity up to 80% over the four decades of cortisol concentration. The detection limit is 0.2 nM over a wide range, between 1 nM and 10 µM, of cortisol concentrations in physiological fluid, with negligible drift over time and high selectivity. The dynamic range fully covers those in human sweat. We propose a comprehensive analysis and a unified, predictive analytical mapping of current sensitivity in all regimes of operation.

Two-dimensional/two-dimensional (2D/2D) heterojunctions form one of the most versatile technological solutions for building tunneling field effect transistors because of the sharp and potentially clean interfaces resulting from van der Waals assembly. Several evidences of room temperature band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) have been recently reported, but only few tunneling devices have been proven to break the Boltzmann limit of the minimum subthreshold slope, 60 mV per decade at 300 K. Here, we report the fabrication and characterization of a vertical p-type Tunnel FET (TFET) co-integrated on the same flake with a p-type MOSFET in a WSe2/SnSe2 material system platform. Due to the selected beneficial band alignment and to a van der Waals device architecture having an excellent heterostructure 2D–2D interface, the reported tunneling devices have a sub-thermionic point swing, reaching a value of 35 mV per decade, while maintaining excellent ON/OFF current ratio in excess of 105 at VDS = 500 mV. The TFET characteristics are directly compared with the ones of a WSe2 MOSFET realized on the very same flake used in the heterojunction. The tunneling device clearly outperforms the 2D MOSFET in the subthreshold region, crossing its characteristic over several orders of magnitude of the output current and providing better digital and analog figures of merit.

The aim of the study was to evaluate whether two dietary approaches recommended for diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular prevention-high-MUFA or complex carbohydrates/fiber-differently influence inflammation. A 4-week crossover study in 12 individuals with type 2 diabetes was performed. Fasting and postprandial hs-CRP plasma levels were not significantly different after a high-carbohydrate/high-fiber/low-glycemic index (CHO/fiber) and a high-MUFA diet. Compared with fasting, hs-CRP levels decreased significantly after the MUFA but not after the CHO/fiber meal. Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins were significantly lower after the CHO/fiber than the MUFA diet. At fasting and postprandially, hs-CRP correlated with triglyceride in whole plasma, chylomicrons, small and large VLDL after the CHO/fiber but not after the MUFA diet. In conclusion, a MUFA-rich diet and a carbohydrate/fiber-rich diet induced similar effects on plasma hs-CRP concentrations. However, these dietary approaches seem to influence hs-CRP levels through different mechanisms. i.e., direct acute postprandial effects by MUFA and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins mediated effects by CHO/fiber.

We report the fabrication process and performance characterization of a fully integrated ferroelectric gate stack in a WSe2/SnSe2 Tunnel FETs (TFETs). The energy behavior of the gate stack during charging and discharging, together with the energy loss of a switching cycle and gate energy efficiency factor are experimentally extracted over a broad range of temperatures, from cryogenic temperature (77 K) up to 100 °C. The obtained results confirm that the linear polarizability is maintained over all the investigated range of temperature, being inversely proportional to the temperature T of the ferroelectric stack. We show that a lower-hysteresis behavior is a sine-qua-non condition for an improved energy efficiency, suggesting the high interest in a true NC operation regime. A pulsed measurement technique shows the possibility to achieve a hysteresis-free negative capacitance (NC) effect on ferroelectric 2D/2D TFETs. This enables sub-15 mV dec−1 point subthreshold slope, 20 mV dec−1 average swing over two decades of current, ION of the order of 100 nA µm−2 and ION/IOFF > 104 at Vd = 1 V. Moreover, an average swing smaller than 10 mV dec−1 over 1.5 decades of current is also obtained in a NC TFET with a hysteresis of 1 V. An analog current efficiency factor, up to 50 and 100 V−1, is achieved in hysteresis-free NC-TFETs. The reported results highlight that operating a ferroelectric gate stack steep slope switch in the NC may allow combined switching energy efficiency and low energy loss, in the hysteresis-free regime.

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Electronic tongues based on potentiometry offer the prospect of rapid and continuous chemical fingerprinting for portable and remote systems. The present contribution presents a technology platform including a miniaturized electronic tongue based on electropolymerized ion-sensitive films, microcontroller-based data acquisition, a smartphone interface and cloud computing back-end for data storage and deployment of machine learning models. The sensor array records a series of differential voltages without use of a true reference electrode and the resulting time-series potentiometry data is used to train supervised machine learning algorithms. For trained systems, inferencing tasks such as the classification of liquids are realized within less than 1 minute including data acquisition at the edge and inference using the cloud-deployed machine learning model. Preliminary demonstration of the complete electronic tongue technology stack is reported for the classification of beverages and mineral water.

We present a CMOS-compatible double gate and label-free C-reactive protein (CRP) sensor, based on silicon on insulator (SOI) silicon nanowires arrays. We exploit a reference subtracted detection method and a super-Nernstian internal amplification given by the double gate structure. We overcome the Debye screening of charged CRP proteins in solutions using antibodies fragments as capturing probes, reducing the overall thickness of the capture layer. We demonstrate the internal amplification through the pH response of the sensor, in static and realtime working modes. While operated in back-gate configuration, the sensor shows excellent stability (<20 pA/min in the worst case), low hysteresis (<300 mV), and a great sensitivity up to 1.2 nA/dec toward CRP proteins in the linear response range. The reported system is an excellent candidate for the continuous monitoring of inflammation biomarkers in serum or interstitial fluid.