Development of a CMOS-Based Microelectrode for DNA Heating and Characterization Using Joule Heating and Impedance Spectroscopy

Abstract

Heating DNA has a wide range of applications in molecular biology, genetics, and biotechnology. Heating DNA plays a crucial role in denaturing double-stranded DNA, removing secondary structures, and enhancing specificity, making it essential for applications like PCR, mutation detection, Forensic Analysis, Microbial and Pathogen Detection, DNA sequencing, hybridization, and molecular diagnostics. A novel integrated microelectrode-on-chip is proposed for heating and monitoring the DNA fragments based on Joule heating and impedance spectroscopy. Joule heating is the process of generating heat when an electric current passes through a conductor due to its resistance, widely used for efficient and uniform heating in various applications. Impedance spectroscopy is an analytical technique that measures the response of a system to an applied alternating current (AC) over a range of frequencies to study its electrical properties, such as impedance magnitude and phase angle. The proposed microelectrode is designed utilizing Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology, utilizing SKILL scripting of Cadence. CMOS technology offers advantages such as miniaturization, low power consumption, high integration capability, cost-effectiveness, precision, real-time data processing, versatility, compatibility with microfabrication, scalability for point-of-care diagnostics, and robust reliability. The proposed design is evaluated and simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics.