# US 9,873,100 B2 · Integrated circuit having temperature-sensing device

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- Number: US 9,873,100 B2
- Document ID: US9873100B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/713,365
- Filed: 2015-05-15
- Published: 2016-03-17
- Granted: 2018-01-23
- Earliest claimed: 2014-09-17
- Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Inventors: Tung-Tsun Chen; Yi-Shao Liu; Jui-Cheng Huang; Chin-Hua Wen; Felix Ying-Kit Tsui; Yung-Chow Peng
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9873100B2

## CPC

- B01J 19/0046: {Sequential or parallel reactions, e.g. for the synthesis of polypeptides or polynucleotides; Apparatus and devices for combinatorial chemistry or for making molecular arrays (synthesis methods per se C40B50/00)}
- B01J 2219/00495: Means for heating or cooling the reaction vessels
- B01J 2219/00585: Parallel processes
- B01J 2219/00596: Solid-phase processes
- B01J 2219/00716: Heat activated synthesis
- B01J 2219/00722: Nucleotides
- B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS

## Abstract

An integrated circuit includes a plurality of sensing pixels. Each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels includes a sensing film portion, a potential-sensing device configured to generate a first signal responsive to an electrical characteristic of the sensing film portion, a temperature-sensing device configured to generate a second signal responsive to a temperature of the sensing film portion, and one or more heating elements configured to adjust the temperature of the sensing film portion.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An integrated circuit, comprising:
a plurality of sensing pixels, each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels comprising:
a sensing film portion;
a bio-sensing device configured to generate a first signal responsive to an electrical characteristic of the sensing film portion;
a temperature-sensing device configured to generate a second signal responsive to a temperature of the sensing film portion; and
one or more heating elements configured to adjust the temperature of the sensing film portion.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein
the plurality of sensing pixels comprises:
a first sensing pixel; and
a second sensing pixel overlapping the first sensing pixel, and
the one or more heating elements of the first sensing pixel and the one or more heating elements of the second sensing pixel have a shared heating element.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein
the heating elements of the plurality of sensing pixels comprise a plurality of rows of heating elements, and
one or more rows of the plurality of rows of heating elements are controllable by a corresponding driving signal.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein
the heating elements of the plurality of sensing pixels comprise a plurality of columns of heating elements, and
one or more columns of the plurality of columns of heating elements are controllable by a corresponding driving signal.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein
the one or more heating elements of each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels is controllable by a driving signal.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein
the one or more heating elements of each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels is controllable by two or more driving signals.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein
the integrated circuit further comprises:
a row decoder coupled with the plurality of sensing pixels and configured to generate signals at a bio-sensing output and a temperature-sensing output based on a selected row of the plurality of sensing pixels; and
a column decoder coupled with the plurality of sensing pixels and configured to generate a plurality of column selection signals, and
each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels further comprises:
a first switching device coupled between the bio-sensing device and the row decoder, the first switching device being controllable by a corresponding one of the plurality of column selection signals; and
a second switching device coupled between the temperature-sensing device and the row decoder, the second switching device being controllable by the corresponding one of the plurality of column selection signals.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The integrated circuit of claim 7, wherein
the integrated circuit further comprises:
a first analog-to-digital converter (ADC) configured to generate a first digital code based on the signal at the bio-sensing output; and
a second ADC configured to generate a second digital code based on the signal at the temperature-sensing output.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The integrated circuit of claim 1, further comprising:
an isolation layer over the plurality of sensing pixels and comprising one or more openings, each of the one or more openings exposing an exclusive subset of the sensing film portions of the plurality of sensing pixels.

### Claim 10

An integrated circuit, comprising:
a plurality of sensing pixels, each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels comprising:
a sensing film portion overlying a sensing circuit, the sensing circuit comprising:
a bio-sensing device responsive to an electrical characteristic of the sensing film portion and selectively coupled with a first signal path; and
a temperature-sensing device responsive to a temperature of the sensing film portion and selectively coupled with a second signal path; and
one or more heating elements coupled with one or more driving signal paths.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels further comprises a micro-conduit structure overlying the sensing film portion.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels further comprises an interconnection structure comprising portions of each of the first signal path, the second signal path, and the one or more driving signal paths.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the sensing film portion of each sensing pixel of the plurality of sensing pixels is located in a corresponding opening in an isolation structure.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The integrated circuit of claim 13, wherein the isolation structure has a thickness ranging from 0.05 micrometers (μm) to 5 μm.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the electrical characteristic of the sensing film portion is one or both of a surface potential or immobilized charges on a surface of the sensing film portion.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the sensing film portion comprises one or more of hafnium oxide, silicon dioxide, or tantalum pentoxide.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the bio-sensing device comprises a nanowire or a field effect transistor.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the bio-sensing device, the temperature-sensing device, and the one or more heating elements are part of a silicon layer having a thickness ranging from 0.5 micrometers (μm) to 3 μm.

### Claim 19

A method of fabricating an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
forming a plurality of sensing circuits on a first substrate;
bonding the plurality of sensing circuits to a second substrate;
removing the first substrate from the plurality of sensing circuits; and
forming a plurality of sensing film portions over the plurality of sensing circuits to form a plurality of sensing pixels,
wherein
each sensing circuit of the plurality of sensing circuits comprises:
a bio-sensing device configured to generate a first signal responsive to an electrical characteristic of the corresponding sensing film portion; and
a temperature-sensing device configured to generate a second signal responsive to a temperature of the corresponding sensing film portion, and
each sensing pixel comprises one or more heating elements configured to adjust the temperature of the corresponding sensing film portion.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the removing the first substrate from the plurality of sensing circuits comprises forming an isolation layer, wherein the forming the plurality of sensing film portions comprises forming the plurality of sensing film portions in openings in the isolation layer.
