Other ISFET applications
The usual way of coping with the effect of drift in chemical sensors is to carry out
calibrations at regular intervals. For pH sensors, the common calibration procedure
involves successive immersion in two buffer solutions with a different pH, with which
both the offset and the sensitivity can be adjusted. Needless to say, that this is a
relatively cumbersome procedure and could not be performed with the in vivo use of
ISFETs.
Coping the drift of an ISFET was done in the Cordis system described above by
predicting the drift beforehand, storing the prediction in a PROM and compensating
the effect automatically.
However, there is a different way of controlling the pH of a solution without any
handling of liquids: by coulometry. Coulometric generation of H+
or OH-
-ions by a
specific electrochemical reaction at an generating electrode, further referred to as actuator, enables the control of the pH of a solution. Coulometry is an absolute
method of ion generation. Provided that (1) the stoichiometry of the electrode reaction
is known, (2) no side reactions occur, and (3) the current efficiency of the electrode
reactions is close to 100%, the relation between the number of coulombs applied to
the actuator and the amount of generated ions is fixed. Hence, the sensor signal can be
adjusted to yield the read-out appropriate to the defined change in concentration by
the generated ions. Note that this method of calibrating a pH sensor depends on the
buffer capacity of the solution.
An example of such a coulometric sensor-actuator system is the combination of an
ISFET pH sensor and a noble metal actuator at which H+
or OH-
-ions can be
generated through the electrolysis of water. With the use of the small, planar, ICprocessed
ISFET, a high degree of integration can be achieved by the deposition of a
thin gold or platinum film electrode, closely spaced around the pH-sensitive gate of
the ISFET. Figure 7 shows the basic elements of such a device.