Abstract
This work presents the development of a 3D model in COMSOL Multiphysics® for fast study of thin films deposited on interdigitated microelectrodes (IMEs). A reduction in computation time is achieved by simulating only one micrometric piece of the total IME array. The measurement technique was electrical impedance spectroscopy. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon (a-SiC:H) was selected as a material under study. The electrical conductivity, thickness, and surface topology of the films were varied to know their effects on the corresponding electrical impedance spectra. According to the results, the deposition of the a-SiC:H thin film on the IMEs generates a plateau in the Bode graph at intermediate frequencies, whose impedance is reduced subsequently in frequency by its own capacitive effect. The thickness of the film impacts both on the impedance magnitude of the plateau and on the value of the capacitance associated to the film. The surface topology was modified removing rectangular blocks from the inwards surface of the films. The effects of this modification were inverse with respect to that obtained with the increase in thickness. This 3D model could be used to correlate changes in impedance with the progressive dissolution of films immersed in biological fluids or define design parameters in sensors and biosensors that uses this type of structures.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Zagalo, P.M., Ribeiro, P.A., Raposo, M.: Effect of applied electrical stimuli to interdigitated electrode sensors while detecting 17α-ethinylestradiol in water samples. Chemosensors 10(114), 1–13 (2022)
Costas, A., et al.: Self connected CuO–ZnO radial core-shell heterojunction nanowire arrays grown on interdigitated electrodes for visible-light photodetectors. Sci. Rep. 12(6834), 1–13 (2022)
Brosel-Oliu, S., et al.: 3D impedimetric sensors as a tool for monitoring bacterial response to antibiotics. Lab Chip 19(8), 1436–1447 (2019)
Van de Veire, T. et al.: In-plane characterization of PZT thin films for the creation of a general impedance model. J. Appl. Phys. 129(9), 094501 (2021)
den Otter, M.W.: Approximate expressions for the capacitance and electrostatic potential of interdigitated electrodes. Sens. Actuators, A 96(2–3), 140–144 (2002)
Jun, L.Q., et al.: Simulation of interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) geometry using COMSOL multiphysics. In: 2018 International Conference on Intelligent and Advanced System, ICIAS, pp. 1–6. IEEE (2018)
Ibrahim, M., et al.: Physical and electrical modeling of interdigitated electrode arrays for bioimpedance spectroscopy. In: New Developments and Applications in Sensing Technology, pp. 169–189. Springer, Heidelberg (2011) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17943-3_9
Herrera-Celis, J., et al.: a-SixC1−x: H thin films with subnanometer surface roughness for biological applications. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A: Vac. Surf. Films 33(5), 05E108 (2015)
Hsu, J.M., et al.: Characterization of a-SiCx: H thin films as an encapsulation material for integrated silicon based neural interface devices. Thin Solid Films 516(1), 34–41 (2007)
Deku, F., et al.: Amorphous silicon carbide ultramicroelectrode arrays for neural stimulation and recording. J. Neural Eng. 15(016007), 1–26 (2018)
Cogan, S.F., et al.: Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon carbide as an implantable dielectric coating. J. Biomed. Mater. Res., Part A 67(3), 856–867 (2003)
Van Gerwen, P., et al.: Nanoscaled interdigitated electrode arrays for biochemical sensors. Sens. Actuators, B Chem. 49(1–2), 73–80 (1998)
COMSOL Multiphysics.: AC/DC Module User’s Guide. Version 5.4. COMSOL AB, Stockholm, Sweden (2018)
Schön, J.H.: Electrical properties. In: Developments in Petroleum Science, vol. 65 pp. 301–367. Elsevier (2015)
Herrera-Celis, J., et al.: Effects of hydrogen dilution and B-doping on the density of Si-C bonds and properties of a-SixC1-x: H films. Superficies y vacío 29(2), 38–42 (2016)
Saddow, S.E.: Silicon Carbide Biotechnology: A Biocompatible Semiconductor for Advanced Biomedical Devices and Applications. 1st edn, pp. 22–28. Elsevier, Massachusetts (2012)
Edwards, T.C., Steer, M.B.: Foundations for Microstrip Circuit Design. 1st edn, p. 639. Wiley, West Sussex (2016)
Ashby, M. F.: Material profiles. In: Materials and the Environment: Eco-informed Material Choice. 2nd edn, p. 536. Elsevier, Massachusetts (2013)
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by CONACYT, CIDETEQ, and LABMYN through the Cátedras CONACYT project No. 746 and Ciencia de Frontera 2019 No. 845132. Diana Jiménez-Rivas thanks CONACYT for the awarded PhD scholarship.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Herrera-Celis, J., Jiménez-Rivas, D., Reyes-Betanzo, C., Méndez-Aguilar, E., Cuevas-Muñiz, F., Oza, G. (2023). Computational Study of a:SiC:H Thin Films Deposited on Interdigitated Microelectrodes Using Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy. In: Trujillo-Romero, C.J., et al. XLV Mexican Conference on Biomedical Engineering. CNIB 2022. IFMBE Proceedings, vol 86. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18256-3_61
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18256-3_61
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-18255-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-18256-3
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)