Diamond biosensors

Clément Hébert (1) , Sébastien Ruffinatto (1) , Philippe Bergonzo (1)

1 LCD (CEA, LIST) - Laboratoire Capteurs Diamant (CEA, LIST)

Diamond is wide band gap semiconductor presenting many extreme properties. It is notably known as the most stable material with the highest chemical inertness, the highest mechanical hardness and the highest thermal conductivity. Since the mid 1970s it has been possible to grow synthetic diamond by several methods. High Pressure High Temperature techniques that mimic the diamond formation in the earth's crust were first developed. Then Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) methods enable diamond growth at laboratory scale as well as the control the P-type and N-type doping of diamond. Besides, it is possible to tune the diamond electrical properties form very resistive to metallic thanks to the P-type doping with boron. Current achievements have enabled the development of diamond sensors that can operate in extreme conditions. After being used for its mechanical and thermal properties, diamond was considered for chemical sensing. In fact the chemical stability and the close-to-metallic conductivity of diamond make it a powerful tool for electrochemical detection in various environment. Furthermore, the diamond is an ideal substrate for surface functionalization thanks to the wide and very known carbon based chemistry. Such a feature combined to the outstanding electrochemical properties of the diamond electrodes have enable the production of very efficient biosensors and biochips. Diamond is also an interesting sensor for medical imaging. Its carbon nature, well tolerated by living tissues, are actually very useful for its use as a biosensor capable of working in contact with bio-environments as well as real neuronal interfaces. Both those topics will be discussed in details in the following pages. In a first part an overview on electrochemical based biosensors and their performance is described. Then in a second half of the chapter, novel applications where diamond is directly used as an electrode for neural tissue interfacing is presented in details.

Mots clés: Thermal conductivity; Thin films; Tissue; ELectrochemical detection; Mechanical and thermal properties; High pressure high temperature; Mechanical hardness; Metallic conductivity; Chemical stability; Chemical detection; Biosensor; Semiconductor doping; sensor; Neuronal interfaces; Neural networks; Microarrays; Electrodes; Medical imaging; Electrochemical electrodes; Chemical vapor deposition; Diamond; Wide band gap semiconductors; Biochips; Surface Functionalization; Bioassay

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Matériaux; Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

Clément Hébert, Sébastien Ruffinatto, Philippe Bergonzo. Diamond biosensors. Carbon for Sensing Devices, Springer International Publishing, pp.227-264, 2015, 9783319086484; 9783319086477. ⟨10.1007/978-3-319-08648-4_9⟩. ⟨cea-01818477⟩