CN113624355B

CN113624355B - Temperature sensor

Info

Publication number: CN113624355B
Application number: CN202110966500.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韩磊; 董俞鹏
Original assignee: Southeast University
Current assignee: Southeast University
Priority date: 2021-08-23
Filing date: 2021-08-23
Publication date: 2022-10-21
Anticipated expiration: 2041-08-23
Also published as: CN113624355A

Abstract

The invention discloses a temperature sensor, which comprises a substrate, a thermopile, a plurality of resistors, a plurality of metal interdigital parts and a plurality of V-shaped beams, wherein the thermopile, the resistors, the metal interdigital parts and the V-shaped beams are arranged on the surface of the substrate; the resistance is connected in series between the metal wires in sequence, the thermopile is positioned on one side of the metal wires, the metal interdigital is positioned on the other side of the metal wires, the metal interdigital corresponds to the resistance position one by one, each metal interdigital is correspondingly connected with the tip of one V-shaped beam, the other end of each V-shaped beam is fixed in an anchor area, the metal interdigital and the V-shaped beams are both suspended on the substrate, the metal interdigital can be pushed to move to the corresponding resistance after the V-shaped beams are heated and expanded, the corresponding resistance is short-circuited after the metal interdigital is contacted with the metal wires at the two ends of the corresponding resistance, and the node type change of the resistance value of the electrical path of the metal wires is caused by the change of the paired contact number of the resistance/the metal interdigital, so that the digital discretization output of the measured temperature is realized.

Description

Temperature sensor

Technical Field

The invention relates to a temperature sensor, and belongs to the technical field of microelectronic devices.

Background

The temperature sensor is widely applied to the fields of meteorological detection, industrial control, safety alarm and the like. With the trend of miniaturization, temperature sensors have been developed in recent years. The existing miniature temperature sensor types mainly include four types: thermocouples, thermistors, resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs), and IC temperature sensors. In recent years, the field of internet of things in China is greatly improved, sensors are used as necessary components in the internet of things, further research and development and popularization are needed, related design and research are in a more fundamental stage in the field of digital temperature sensors, and under the situation, the development of the design in the aspect of industrialization of the temperature sensors has wide application prospect.

Disclosure of Invention

The purpose of the invention is as follows: in view of the above prior art, a temperature sensor is provided to implement digital discretization output of measured temperature.

The technical scheme is as follows: a temperature sensor comprises a substrate, a thermopile, a plurality of resistors, a plurality of metal interdigital parts and a plurality of V-shaped beams, wherein the thermopile, the resistors, the metal interdigital parts and the V-shaped beams are arranged on the surface of the substrate; the resistors are sequentially connected in series between the metal wires, the thermopile is positioned on one side of the metal wires, the metal fingers are positioned on the other side of the metal wires and correspond to the resistor positions one by one, each metal finger is correspondingly connected with the tip of one V-shaped beam, the other end of each V-shaped beam is fixed in the anchor area, the metal fingers and the V-shaped beams are suspended on the substrate, the V-shaped beams can push the metal fingers to move to the corresponding resistors after being heated and expanded, and the corresponding resistors are short-circuited after the metal fingers are contacted with the metal wires at the two ends of the corresponding resistors.

Furthermore, the distance between each metal interdigital and the corresponding resistor is sequentially increased, and the length of each metal interdigital is correspondingly and sequentially reduced.

Furthermore, the same current is pre-loaded to all the V-shaped beams through the anchor area to adjust the distance between the metal interdigital and the corresponding resistor, so that the temperature detection range of the sensor is adjusted.

Has the advantages that: the temperature sensor of the invention is different from the traditional temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor mainly has the following advantages: 1. the temperature sensor can adjust the temperature measurement precision and the detection range by increasing or decreasing the number of the resistors/metal interdigital and preloading current on the anchoring area of the V-shaped beam according to different test requirements, and the design is very flexible; 2. the temperature sensor adopts digital discretization output, different resistor/metal interdigital combinations correspond to different temperature nodes, digital change of the resistance value of the total resistor is realized through closed contact of the resistors/metal interdigital, and the temperature sensor has the advantages of high measurement precision and strong anti-interference capability; 3. the temperature sensor has novel structure and small volume, and can meet the application requirements of high reliability and miniaturization; 4. the temperature sensor is completely compatible with a microelectronic processing technology, and is beneficial to realizing the miniaturization of the sensor.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the temperature sensor of the present invention;

fig. 2 isbase:Sub>A schematic sectional view taken along linebase:Sub>A-base:Sub>A' in fig. 1.

Detailed Description

The invention is further explained below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a temperature sensor includes a substrate 8, a first metal line 11, a second metal line 12, a third metal line 13, a fourth metal line 14, a fifth metal line 15, a first anchor region 21, a second anchor region 22, a third anchor region 23, a fourth anchor region 24, a fifth anchor region 25, a sixth anchor region 26, a seventh anchor region 27, a thermopile 3, a first resistor 51, a second resistor 52, a third resistor 53, a fourth resistor 54, a first metal finger 61, a second metal finger 62, a third metal finger 63, a fourth metal finger 64, a first V-shaped beam 71, a second V-shaped beam 72, a third V-shaped beam 73, and a fourth V-shaped beam 74. The first resistor 51 is connected between the first metal wire 11 and the third metal wire 13, the second resistor 52 is connected between the third metal wire 13 and the fourth metal wire 14, the third resistor 53 is connected between the fourth metal wire 14 and the fifth metal wire 15, the fourth resistor 54 is connected between the fifth metal wire 15 and the second metal wire 12, the resistors are sequentially connected in series on the surface of the substrate 8 through the metal wires to form a half-frame structure, and the first metal wire 11 and the second metal wire 12 are respectively positioned on the upper side and the lower side and are arranged in parallel. The thermopile 3 is located inside the first and second metal lines 11 and 12, and both ends of the thermopile 3 are connected to the first and

second anchor regions

21 and 22, respectively. The tip end of the first V-shaped beam 71 is connected with the first metal interdigital finger 61, and the other end of the first V-shaped beam 71 is connected with the third anchoring area 23 and the fourth anchoring area 24; the tip end of the second V-shaped beam 72 is connected with the second metal interdigital finger 62, and the other end of the second V-shaped beam 72 is connected with the fourth anchoring area 24 and the fifth anchoring area 25; the tip end of the third V-shaped beam 73 is connected with the third metal interdigital 63, and the other end of the third V-shaped beam 73 is connected with the fifth anchoring area 25 and the sixth anchoring area 26; the tip of the fourth V-beam 74 is connected to the fourth metal finger 64 and the other end of the fourth V-beam 74 is connected to the sixth anchor region 26 and the seventh anchor region 27. Each metal interdigital is positioned on the other side of the metal wire of the series resistor, the metal interdigital 61 to 64 and the resistor 51 to 54 are in one-to-one correspondence, a space is reserved between the metal interdigital and the resistor, and the metal interdigital and the V-shaped beam are both suspended on the substrate 8. The distances between the metal interdigital 61 to 64 and the corresponding resistances 51 to 54 are sequentially increased, and the lengths of the metal interdigital 61 to 64 are sequentially reduced.

According to the temperature sensor, constant current is applied between a first metal wire 11 and a second metal wire 12, when the temperature of an external environment rises, a V-shaped beam 71-74 is heated to expand to push a metal interdigital 61-64 to move towards corresponding resistors 51-54, and therefore the distance between the metal interdigital 61-64 and the corresponding resistors 51-54 is changed; in terms of size design, the lengths of the metal fingers 61 to 64 are sequentially reduced, so that the distances between the metal fingers 61 to 64 and the corresponding resistors 51 to 54 are sequentially increased, when the external environment temperature reaches a first temperature node, two ends of the first metal finger 61 are in contact with the first metal wire 11 and the third metal wire 13, and the first resistor 51 is short-circuited; when the external environment temperature reaches the second temperature node, two ends of the second metal interdigital 62 are in contact with the third metal wire 13 and the fourth metal wire 14, and the second resistor 52 is short-circuited; when the external environment temperature reaches a third temperature node, two ends of the third metal interdigital 63 are in contact with the fourth metal wire 14 and the fifth metal wire 15, and the third resistor 53 is short-circuited; when the external environment temperature reaches a fourth temperature node, two ends of the fourth metal interdigital 64 are in contact with the fifth metal wire 15 and the second metal wire 12, the fourth resistor 54 is short-circuited, the metal interdigital with different lengths is converted into different numbers of resistors/metal interdigital closed contact modes at the corresponding external environment temperature nodes, the corresponding resistors are short-circuited, the total power consumption of the resistors 51 to 54 is reduced, the total power consumption of the resistors 51 to 54 is converted into output of thermoelectric force through the thermopile 3, and the measurement of the external environment temperature is achieved. By adopting the temperature sensor structure, the digital output with adjustable temperature measurement precision can be obtained by increasing and decreasing the combined number of the resistors/metal interdigital according to the measurement requirement.

Meanwhile, a certain current can be applied between the anchor area 23 and the anchor area 27 in advance, so that the V-shaped beams 71 to 74 are heated and expanded due to the resistance effect to drive the metal fingers 61 to 64 forwards, and the distances between the metal fingers 61 to 64 and the corresponding resistors 51 to 54 are uniformly adjusted by loading the same current on all the V-shaped beams 71 to 74, so that the temperature detection range of the sensor is adjusted.

The temperature sensor has a simple structure, the whole sensor can pass through a microelectronic processing technology, the precision of the structural dimension can reach a higher level, the volume is greatly reduced, and the miniaturization of the sensor is favorably realized; the temperature sensor adopts a V-shaped beam structure and a plurality of groups of resistors/metal interdigital pair design to convert the change of a temperature node into digital discretization output of the resistors, so that the V-shaped beam structure temperature sensor has the advantages of flexible design, adjustable temperature measurement precision and detection range, digital output, small volume, compatible process and the like.

The foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, various modifications and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these modifications and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A temperature sensor is characterized by comprising a substrate, a thermopile, a plurality of resistors, a plurality of metal interdigital and a plurality of V-shaped beams, wherein the thermopile, the resistors, the metal interdigital and the V-shaped beams are arranged on the surface of the substrate; the resistors are sequentially connected in series between the metal wires, the thermopile is positioned on one side of the metal wires, the metal fingers are positioned on the other side of the metal wires and correspond to the resistor positions one by one, each metal finger is correspondingly connected with the tip of one V-shaped beam, the other end of each V-shaped beam is fixed in an anchor area, the metal fingers and the V-shaped beams are suspended on the substrate, the V-shaped beams can push the metal fingers to move to the corresponding resistors after being heated and expanded, and the corresponding resistors are short-circuited after the metal fingers are contacted with the metal wires at the two ends of the corresponding resistors; through the mode that metal interdigital of different length is converted into the closed contact of resistance/metal interdigital of different quantity under corresponding external environment temperature node for corresponding resistance is short circuited, causes the total consumption on the resistance to reduce, and the thermopile converts the total consumption on the resistance into the output of thermoelectric force, realizes the measurement to external environment temperature.

2. The temperature sensor of claim 1, wherein each metal finger has a sequentially increasing distance from the corresponding resistor and a sequentially decreasing length.

3. The temperature sensor of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensing range of the sensor is adjusted by preloading all of the V-beams with the same current through the anchor area to adjust the distance of the metal fingers from the corresponding resistors.