Digital Biosensing By Foundry-Fabricated Graphene Sensors

Biomedical and environmental testing currently require access to highly specialized facilities or extensive training. Current biochemical tests require complex reagents to achieve a simple human readable result such as a color change. This results in low-information tests, with high reagent costs. To maximize information from testing while minimizing costs, biotechnology should leverage complex analysis enabled by advanced portable computing power and use simplified reagents. Nanotechnologists have created proof-of-concept devices to move diagnosis and monitoring from large core labs to hand-held, easy-to-use personal devices, but none have achieved large-scale manufacturability. We demonstrate the first economical nanoelectronics produced in a commercial foundry. The mass-manufacture of these graphene-based digital biosensors is achieved by successfully integrating delicate graphene material into standard electronic high-volume production processes. We describe critical manufacturing parameters and the results of biosensing measurements that establish graphene biosensors as a portable, low-cost method to gain precise data without labeled, complex reagents. The low power and resource usage of these biosensors enable individuals to gain personal, immediate control over precise biological and environmental data.