Interfacing CMOS electronics to biological systems: from single molecules to cellular communities

Direct electronic interfaces between biological systems and solid-state devices offer considerable advantages over traditional optical interfaces by reducing system costs and affording increased signal levels. Integrating sensor transduction onto a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip provides further advantages by enabling reduction of parasitics and improved sensor density. We present two sensing platforms that demonstrate the range of capabilities of CMOS-based bioelectronics. The first platform electrochemically images signaling molecules in multicellular communities, while the second focuses on single-molecule, high-bandwidth sensing using carbon nanotube field-effect transistors.