MSE Colloquium: Dr. Steve Semancik, Processing and Performance of Functional Materials for Chemical and Biochemical Sensors

Biomolecular Measurement Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

All dates for this event occur in the past.

264 MacQuigg Labs
105 W. Woodruff Ave
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Abstract

Microsensor development for the monitoring of chemicals and biochemicals is a highly interdisciplinary endeavor. Enabling technology depends on contributions from fields including chemistry, physics, materials science, electrical engineering and computer science. Transduction approaches involve the fabrication of small-scale functional platforms where gas-phase or solution-phase samples interact with incorporated interfacial materials to produce a measurable property change. Three types of sensing configurations from NIST will be described: chemiresistive microhotplates for gas-phase detection, nanostructured plasmonic/SERS platforms for sensing targets in both gases and solutions, and planar electrochemical cells for small-volume biosensing.

The presentation will emphasize different materials processing challenges, including those related to size/dimension, structure and electronic quality, and the requirement that multiple procedures be compatible for small-footprint device integration. Examples from the three types of sensing technologies will illustrate how lithography and micromachining, deposition of sensing films (ranging from semiconductive oxides to tethered DNA), operational modes that enhance analytical capability, as well as signal processing, are brought together to enable tiny devices capable of chemical detection/molecular recognition. Varied application sectors, ranging from environmental monitoring to medical diagnostics, will also be briefly addressed.

Bio

Steve Semancik leads the Biochemical Microsensor Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD. A key research objective of this multidisciplinary program has been the development of technology for application-tunable microdevices that can monitor chemical/biochemical molecules and processes of relevance to medical diagnostics, drug discovery and biomanufacturing. His team explores advanced surface and interfacial concepts, which are currently directed toward electrochemical characterization and photonic biosensing measurements. Dr. Semancik received his B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Sc.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Brown University, all in Physics, and he is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and American Vacuum Society.