Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

MICROHOTPLATE TEMPERATURE SENSOR CALIBRATION AND BIST

Published

Author(s)

Muhammad Y. Afridi, Christopher B. Montgomery, Stephen Semancik, Kenneth G. Kreider, Jon C. Geist

Abstract

In this paper we describe a novel long-term microhotplate temperature sensor calibration technique suitable for Built-In Self Test (BIST). The microhotplate thermal resistance (thermal efficiency) and the thermal voltage from an integrated platinum-rhodium thermocouple were calibrated against a freshly calibrated four-wire polysilicon microhotplate-heater temperature sensor (heater) that is not stable over long periods of time when exposed to higher temperatures. To stress the microhotplate, its temperature was raised to around 400 °C and held there for days. The heater was then recalibrated as a temperature sensor, and microhotplate temperature measurements were made based on the fresh calibration of the heater, the first calibration of the heater, the microhotplate thermal resistance, and the thermocouple voltage. This procedure was repeated 10 times over a period of 80 days. The results show that the heater calibration drifted substantially during the period of the test while the microhotplate thermal resistance and the thermocouple-voltage remained stable to within about plus or minus 1 °C over the same period. Therefore, the combination of a microhotplate heater-temperature sensor and either the microhotplate thermal resistance or an integrated thin film platinum-rhodium thermocouple can be used to provide a stable, calibrated, microhotplate-temperature sensor, and the combination of the three sensor is suitable for implementing BIST functionality. Alternatively, if a stable microhotplate-heater temperature sensor is available, such as a properly annealed platinum heater-temperature sensor, then the thermal resistance of the microhotplate and the electrical resistance of the platinum heater will be sufficient to implement BIST. It is also shown that aluminum- and polysilicon-based temperature sensors, which are not stable enough for measuring high microhotplate temperatures (>220 °C) without impractically frequent recalibration, can be used to measure the
Citation
Journal of Research (NIST JRES) -
Volume
116
Issue
6

Keywords

Microhotplate, Calibration, Temperature, Sensor, BIST, Platinum-Rhodium, Thermocouple, Substrate, Silicon

Citation

Afridi, M. , Montgomery, C. , Semancik, S. , Kreider, K. and Geist, J. (2012), MICROHOTPLATE TEMPERATURE SENSOR CALIBRATION AND BIST, Journal of Research (NIST JRES), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (Accessed March 29, 2024)
Created January 3, 2012, Updated November 14, 2018