Annex-I

THE EIGHTEENTH SESSION OF CHINA-PAKISTAN COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION

APPLICATION FORM FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

A. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION

1. Title of the project: Giant Magneto-Impedance Bio-Sensor and Integrated

Systems
2. Duration of the project: 36 months
3. Expected date of commencement: Q4 2020 or Q1 2021
4. Field of S&T covered by the proposal: Emerging ICT Areas/Advanced
Materials/COVID-19
5. Key words qualifying the scope of the proposal: Bio-Sensor, Giant Magneto
Impedance Sensor, Sensor Readout Electronics, IOT, Rapid Test Kits
6. Collaborating Institutions:

CHINA
Name of Project Investigator (PI): Dr. Faxiang QIN
Designation: Research Professor
Name of the Institution: Zhejiang University (School of Materials
Science and Engineering)
Address: Zhejiang University, 38 Zhe-da Road,
Hangzhou. 310027.
Tel: +86 571 879 53261
Fax:
Email: faxiangqin@zju.edu.cn

PAKISTAN
Name of Project Investigator (PI): Dr. Syed Arsalan Jawed
Designation: Professor
Name of the Institution: Karachi Institute of Economics and
Technology (KIET)
Address: KIET Main Campus, PAF Airmen Academy,
Korangi Creek, Karachi. 75190.
Tel: +92(0) 331 249 1245 / +92(0) 213 5091114-7
Fax: +92(0) 213 509 1118
Email: arsalan.jawed@pafkiet.edu.pk

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 Annex-II

B. TECHNICAL INFORMATION

1. Objectives of the Project (Bullet wise)

 This project proposes a high-sensitivity, miniaturized and portable electronic bio-

sensor system for blood-assay and pathogen detection for point-of-care diagnosis.

 The complete bio-sensor system would consist of a GMI (Giant Magneto Impedance)
sensor, an application-specific readout IC (ASIC) developed to provide electrical and
mechanical interface to the GMI sensor.

 The GMI sensor would be wire-bonded with the readout ASIC side-by-side in an
appropriate package. The ASIC would be custom-designed and fabricated in CMOS
process. The appropriate CMOS process node would be selected later however it
would be between 110nm and 180nm.

 The integrated system would be characterized electrically as well as bio-functionally

inside the lab.

 The end outcome would be a lab-characterized integrated bio-sensor-system prototype

which would be suitable for induction in mass-commercialization through subsequent
fundings and projects.

 The targeted applications are point of care testing and diagnosis using portable blood
assay.

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2. Justification for collaboration and short information about national and
international scenario in the proposed area of research (Not Exceeding One
Page)

To highlight the necessity and effectiveness of the collaboration, it is first important to

understand that the system consists of two main functional components of the proposed
system: 1) GMI Sensor, 2) Readout IC.
The GMI sensor would be designed at the Chinese partner facility at Zhejiang University.
The Institute for Composites Science Innovation (InCSI) has complete experimental
equipment for the fabrication and characterization of ferromagnetic microwires and polymer-
based composites, which guarantees the demanding structural, magnetic and electromagnetic
performance for the prototype sensor design. The PI at Zhejiang University has extensive
experience in Ferro-Magnetic materials. The following snaps briefly highlight the relevant
manufacturing and characterization facilities available at InCSI.

Aerospace-grade ASC autoclave, Gerber digital prepreg cutting machine, Physical properties Measurement system,
Fabrication setup for Amorphous Ferromagnetic glass coated microwires, Tensometer.

The Readout ASIC would be designed at the Pakistani PIO, i.e. KIET, in a “fabless” mode,
which means the design in CAD Tools would be performed at PIO while the manufacturing
of the circuits would be done through “FABs” in China as IC manufacturing facility does not
exist in Pakistan. KIET research Lab has complete Cadence IC Design suite, MEMS design
tools from Coventor and multiphysics softwares such as Comsol and EM simulators such as
CST with an adequate electrical characterization lab setup. KIET lab has designed 9 ICs in
last six years and the PI has extensive experience in ICs for bio-sensing. The following snaps
briefly show the EDCAS design center and designed ICs.

ICs Designed by KIET, Cadence IC Design Suite and Purpose Built Research Lab

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3. Short scientific & technical description of the project including methodology (Not
Exceeding Two Pages)

[@fahd, make the list of refs used below]

The proposed bio-sensor system consists of two main functional components: 1) a Giant-
Magneto Imependace (GMI) sensor 2) an application-specific IC (ASIC) for high-sensitivity
readout of the sensor, as shown in the following figure 1. The proposed system would go
through several intermediate development phases, however, the end target is to achieve an
integrated system-in-package.

@fahd : we need to show a side by side wire bonded system pic here, change graphe to
gmi in the following…show some package wire bonds also

GMI sensors have shown promising performance amongst the other magnetic sensors such
Hall sensors, fluxgate sensors and GMR sensors from the perspective of sensitivity, fast
response and lower power consumption [1-9] and that has led to extensive study of newer
materials and readout circuits [10-15]. This work aims to demonstrate that by directly binding
paramagnetic particles on to the surface of the microwire – by harnessing specific
receptor/ligand systems – GMI sensors can be designed so as to be highly sensitive
(proximity effect) and target selective. Figure 4 illustrates the GMI effect in the scenario of
how the receptor/ligand pairing of biotin and streptavidin could be used to bring
paramagnetic particles in close proximity to the surface of the microwire. Therefore, the
super-paramagnetic nanoparticles will significantly improve the sensitivity of the system. The
work regarding sensor design would be partitioned into following main work phases:

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WP1: Superparamagnetic nanoparticles vs. paramagnetic microparticles
The effect on impedance of superparamagnetic nanoparticles (synthesized in-house) and
paramagnetic microparticles (commercial) will be systematically evaluated. Limits of
detection for each will be determined to evaluate the sensitivity of each system.

WP2: Functionalisation of glass coated microwires with biotin

The glass coating of the magnetic microwires will be functionalized with biotin. A number of
well-established approaches will be evaluated to optimize this process.

WP3: Detection of streptavidin paramagmetic microparticles via biotinylated microwire

Commercially available streptavidin coated particles will be introduced to the system. In the
absence of an external magnetic field, the streptavidin particles will only interact with wire
via protein-ligand interactions. Following equilibration and removal of unbound particles, a
direct magnetic field will be induced and the impedance-change in the system measured.

WP4: Functionalization of glass coated microwires with polymyxin and synthesis of

endotoxin coated super paramagnetic nanoparticles
Microwires will be functionalized with polymyxin, a peptide that displays high affinity for
endotoxin from Gram-negative bacteria. Concurrently, superparamagnetic nanoparticles
displaying endotoxin on their surface will be synthesized and the ability to detect these
particles via GMI effects evaluated. Specifically, the sensitivity, detection and signal-
processing time, accuracy, repeatability of the fabricated sensor will be assessed. [1-5]

One of the active trends regarding GMI sensors is the attempt to miniaturize them to make
the applicable to a broader range of applications [6]. Recently, MEMS based GMI sensors
have also been proposed in literature [7] to achieve not only a miniaturized sensor footprint
but also to leverage the mature manufacturing technologies under MEMS and also to open up
the possibility of integration with the readout ICs. [8] presented a combined
magnetometer/accelerometer sharing a single surface micromachined structure while [9]
reported a novel micro-fluxgate sensor based on a double-layer magnetic core of a FeCoB-
based amorphous ribbon, fabricated via MEMS technology combined with chemical wet
etching. Therefore, a miniaturized integration in a package magnetic sensor systems have
been proven feasible recently.

The CMOS ASIC is the main electrical, magnetic and thermal interface of the GMI sensor,
which is used to readout the changes in the magneto-impedance of the GMI sensor. Several
readout topologies have been proposed in the literature [11,12]. [12,13] uses a Helmholtz coil
to generate a uniform magnetic field across the GMI sensor and then measures the impedance
change using a bench-top precision impedance analyzer. [12] employs differential readout by
measuring the amplitude changes across the GMI coil when a modulated variable electrical
field is applied across the coil. The sensing is performing using COTS high-speed analog

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amplifiers. [14] again uses a bench-top RF detector along with a function generator and some
analog opamps to sense the GMI sensor properties.

However, most of the above mentioned approaches are based on COTS and bench-top
instruments and are not suitable for a portable completely integrated system. This work
proposes readout approaches in the direction which can enable a miniaturized integrated
system, as the one mentioned in [15].

One of the proposed approaches for the on-chip readout scheme would employ magnetic
coupling between the GMI sensor and a custom-designed on-chip coil, both sensor and on-
chip coil would be operating at a particular resonance frequency and the change in magnetic
properties of the GMI sensor would cause a shift in resonance. EDCA Lab at KIET has
already worked on resonant magnetic coupling for a wireless power transfer on-chip circuit at
200MHz. The other approach would employ the surface-micromachined GMI sensor as a two
terminal wired device, which is excited at a particular microwave frequency to performance
impedance analysis. Both of these approaches are graphically depicted in the following figure
3. The first approach has the advantage of not needing any wired connection between the
sensor and the readout circuit, which eases integration requirements but raises the
requirement of maintaining a particular orientation for proper coupling. The second
approaches, once connections are made is not dependent on the relative orientation of the
GMI sensor and the on-chip coil.

Off-Chip GMI Sensor Off-Chip GMI Sensor

Glass Substrate Over ASIC Glass Substrate Over ASIC

On-Chip Coil and Resonant

Circuit Readout and Digitizer
Circuit
+
Readout and Sensor RF Sensor RF Driver Circuit
Digitizer Driver
Circuit Circuit

Wired Interconnect
Magnetic Coupling Proposed Approach # 2
Proposed Approach # 1

Figure 1 : Proposed Approaches for the Integrated Sensor System Design (@fahd remove from the top in the wired
approach 2 , we are not micromachining now, we are not putting side by side in package, keep on top in approach 1)

The following figure depicts the proposed methodology.

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 Sensor Design
Readout Circuit Design

Sensor Design and Separate Fabrication – Standalone

Characterization with Instrumentation – Integration with
System Level Readout Circuit
Sensor Porting to a
MEMS Surface
Micromachined Process
compatible with CMOS
Post-Processing of
the CMOS Die(s) to
Micromachine the
GMI Sensor

System-Level Readout Design for Detailed Sensor

Characterization

On-Chip Circuit Design and Simulations and IC Tape-Out

Test Setup
Preparation

Integration and Lab Testing of

Complete System

6 12 18 24 30 36

(Months)

@fahd make the colors of this pic more pro….use grayscale…remove blue “system level readout design for detailed “
– not doing it…take activities from the following table and redraw this pic ….

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4. Collaboration program

Time schedule Pakistan responsibilities China responsibilities

1st year Design and Simulation of @prof.faxiang : kindly fill
Readout IC Schemes these from your side.
2nd year Tapeout of the Prototype @prof.faxiang : kindly fill
ASIC these from your side.

Electrical Testing of the

Prototype ASIC
3rd year Integration with Sensor @prof.faxiang : kindly fill
these from your side.
Integrated Testing of the
System

5. Number of exchange visits required

Period Pakistanis to China Chinese to Pakistan

Number Number Duration Number of Number Duration
of visits of visitors visits of visitors
1st year 1 2 1 month @prof.faxia
ng : kindly
fill these
from your
side.
2nd year 1 2 1 month
3rd year 2 2 2 months

6. Expected results of this cooperation (e.g. joint publications, patents etc.). Are any
of the expected results likely to have commercial value? How do you propose to
share them? (up to 100 words)

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7. Curriculum Vitae of Pakistani and Chinese investigators (the description should
highlight the expertise of the PI(s) in the proposed field of work supported by
citing relevant publications (to be appended no more than 2 pages).

@fahd , its yours. Use latest.

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 Annex-III

C. ADMINISTRATIVE & FINANCIAL INFORMATION

1. Project Cost
Equipmen Consumable Contingenc Exchange
Total
Yea t s y Visits
r Chin Pa Chin Pak Chin Pak Chin Pa Chin Pa
a k a a a k a k
1st Budget
year Requeste
d
Existing
resources
nd
2 Budget
year Requeste
d
Existing
resources
rd
3 Budget
year Requeste
d
Existing
resources
Tota Budget
l Requeste
d

@fahd, ask for wire bonder, probe station. There is a tape-out in second year. Keep
hr as per ignite guidelines. Its better to get it rejected if they don’t pay anything to hr.

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2. Declaration from the Heads of the collaborating Institutions

It is certified that

i) The Institution agrees to participate in this Joint Research and Development

Project,
ii) The Institution will provide infrastructure & necessary facilities for implementing
the joint project,
iii) The Institution agrees to provide Managerial and Technical support for the part of
the project work to be carried out at the institution,and
iv) All the information given in this application is true and correct.

Signature & Seal of the Head of the Institution(s)

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 Annex-IV

THE EIGHTEENTH SESSION OF CHINA-PAKISTAN JOINT COMMITTEE

ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION

APPLICATION FORM FOR SHORT TERM VISIT(s)

Project Title:
Team Size:
Duration:
Implementing Date:
Dispatching Agency:
Contact Person:
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
Receiving Agency:
Contact Person:
Tel:
Fax:
Email:

REASONS FOR THE PROPOSED PROJECT

(Please indicate the purpose of the visit, the role and significance of this project in
R&D activities, respective R&D level in this field and benefits that will be brought by
this project to both sides.)

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