Field-effect control of ions beyond debye-screening limit in nanofluidic transistors

We investigate the field-effect control of ions in nanofluidic transistors (NFTs) with characteristic channel size (∼100 nm) significantly larger than the system's Debye Length (∼10 nm). These 100 nm NFTs achieve an ionic current modulation ratio of ∼2.5, demonstrating better performance than the state-of-the-art 20 nm NFTs. The result attests a new operating regime beyond the Debye-screening limit. The relaxed constraint on channel size offers advantages in device manufacturing, testing, and reliability. It also opens up new applications in biological sensing and sample preparation.