Integrated micro thermal sensors for local temperature measurements in microsystems

An array of integrated thermal micro sensors was successfully designed, fabricated and characterized for the measurement of temperature distributions in forced convection microchannel flows. Polycrystalline microsensors with the size of 4μmx4μmx0.4μm were suspended across the micro-channels, with hydraulic diameters of less than 3μm, directly exposed to the fluid for local temperature measurements. The fabrication of the integrated microsystem was accomplished using surface micromachining techniques. The sensor sensitivity, time response, accuracy and long term stability are documented. A theoretical analysis of the sensor performance, as part of an integrated microsystem, is presented to provide a framework for the interpretation of the experimental results.