A micro sensor for non-contact temperature measurement

Abstract

Micro temperature sensors are needed for non-contact measurement of temperatures of micro devices and components. The miniaturization of existing temperature sensors for non-contact temperature measurement are limited by their sensing methods which sense the temperatures by measuring the radiation energy. In this study, a micro sensor for non-contact surface temperature measurement is designed using a new approach in which the temperature is determined by measuring the blackbody radiation wavelength corresponding to the surface temperature, based on Plank's law for blackbody thermal radiation and Wien's theorem for the relationship between wavelength of radiation and the corresponding blackbody temperature. The radiation wavelength is determined through measuring the electrical field of the radiation waves, based on the theory of electromagnetic field of blackbody radiation. The micro temperature sensor designed using this approach comprises a group of probes in micrometer or nanometer scales for collecting electrical signals from the electric filed of blackbody radiation and a data processing circuit for signal amplification as well as for determining the surface temperature according to the measured radiation wavelength. In this way, the sensor requires no calibration. The measurable range of temperatures is determined by the sizes of the probes, and the precision of the measurement is determined by the precision of the probes.