Hysteresis effect on traps of Si3N4 sensing membranes for pH difference sensitivity

The mechanism of different pH sensitivities on single and stacked layer silicon nitride (Si3N4)-electrolyte insulator semiconductor (EIS) structures was investigated for the application of an inorganic ion sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) and reference field effect transistor (REFET) pair. The capacitance–voltage (C–V) hysteresis effect of the EIS structures was measured. In addition, pH sensitivity was evaluated with different sweep directions and ranges of the substrate bias. Based on the hysteresis results, a pH-dependent trapping effect was found to decrease the pH sensitivity on a single Si3N4 sensing membrane EIS structure.