ISFET (Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistors) microsensors are widely used for pH measurements as well as analytical and biomedical applications. At the same time, ISFET is a good candidate for testing various materials for their applications in sensitive membranes. For example, hydrogen sensitive carbonaceous films containing Pd nanocrystallites (C–Pd) make this material very interesting for sensor applications. A cost effective silicon technology was selected to fabricate n-channel transistors. The structures were coupled to specially designed double-sided PCB (Printed Circuit Board) holder. The holder enables assembly of the structure as part of an automatic stand. The last step of production of MIS structures was deposition of the C–Pd layer. The C–Pd films were fabricated by the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) method in which C60 and palladium acetate were evaporated. Electrical resistance of structures with C–Pd films was measured during their interaction with hydrogen. Finally, a new type of highly sensitive FET hydrogen sensor with C–Pd layer was demonstrated and characterized.

The behavioural model of a graphene field-effect transistor (GFET) is proposed. In this approach the GFET element is treated as a “black box” with only external terminals available and without considering the physical phenomena directly. The presented circuit model was constructed to reflect steady-state characteristics taking also into account GFET capacitances. The authors’ model is defined by a relatively small number of equations which are not nested and all the parameters can be easily extracted. It was demonstrated that the proposed model allows to simulate the steady-state characteristics with the accuracy approximately as high as in the case of the physical model. The presented compact GFET model can be used for circuit or system-level simulations in the future.

The paper presents a new electromechanical amplifying device i.e., an electromechanical biological transistor. This device is located in the outer hair cell (OHC), and constitutes a part of the Cochlear amplifier. The physical principle of operation of this new amplifying device is based on the phenomenon of forward mechanoelectrical transduction that occurs in the OHC's stereocilia. Operation of this device is similar to that of classical electronic Field Effect Transistor (FET). In the considered electromechanical transistor the input signal is a mechanical (acoustic) signal. Whereas the output signal is an electric signal. It has been shown that the proposed electromechanical transistor can play a role of the active electromechanical controlled element that has the ability to amplify the power of input AC signals. The power required to amplify the input signals is extracted from a battery of DC voltage. In the considered electromechanical transistor, that operates in the amplifier circuit, mechanical input signal controls the flow of electric energy in the output circuit, from a battery of DC voltage to the load resistance. Small signal equivalent electrical circuit of the electromechanical transistor is developed. Numerical values of the electrical parameters of the equivalent circuit were evaluated. The range, which covers the levels of input signals (force and velocity) and output signals (voltage, current) was determined. The obtained data are consistent with physiological data. Exemplary numerical values of currents, voltages, forces, vibrational velocities and power gain (for the assumed input power levels below 1 picowatt (10-12 W)), were given. This new electromechanical active device (transistor) can be responsible for power amplification in the cochlear amplifier in the inner ear.

The paper presents a low noise voltage FET amplifier for low frequency noise measurements. It was built using two stages of an op amp transimpedance amplifier. To reduce voltage noise, eight-paralleled low noise discrete JFETs were used in the first stage. The designed amplifier was then compared to commercial ones. Its measured value of voltage noise spectral density is around 24 nV/√ Hz, 3 nV/√ Hz, 0.95 nV/√Hz and 0.6 nV/√ Hz at the frequency of 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 Hz, respectively. A −3 dB frequency response is from ∼ 20 mHz to ∼ 600 kHz.