Field effect transistor based on ions as charge carriers

We demonstrated a field effect transistor based on modulation of the flow of positive changed ions (dominantly protons) in confined water-containing nanochannels. The device resembles a semiconductor MOSFET transistor with the difference that the charge carriers here are ions (i.e. protons and others) instead of electrons as in the case of semiconductor devices. The transconductance of the nanofluidic transistor is a complex function of the gate potential, ion concentration, charges at the solid/fluid interface, temperature and more. Preliminary experimental results from fabricated devices are in a reasonably good agreement with the theoretical predictions.