N/MEMS Biosensors: An Introduction

Abstract: In the 21st century, biosensors have gathered much wider attention than ever before, irrespective of the technology that promises to bring them forward. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the concern and efforts to restore global health and well-being are rising at an unprecedented rate. A requirement to develop precise, fast, point-of-care, reliable, easily disposable/reproducible and low-cost diagnostic tools have ascended. Biosensors form a primary element of hand-held medical kits, tools, products, and/or instruments. They have a very wide range of applications such as nearby environmental checks, detecting the onset of a disease, food quality, drug discovery, medicine dose control, and many more. Thischapter explains how Nano/Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (N/MEMS) can be enabling technology towards a sustainable, scalable, ultra-miniaturized, easy-to-use, energy efficient, and integrated bio/chemical sensing system. This study provides a deeper insight into the fundamentals, recent advances, and potential end applications of N/MEMS sensors and integrated systems to detect and measure the concentration of biological and/or chemical analytes. Transduction principle/s, materials, efficient designs including readout technique, and sensor performance are explained. This is followed by a discussion on how N/MEMS biosensors continue to evolve. The challenges and possible opportunities are also discussed.