Built-In Temperature Sensing Method in a Microheater

NASA Ames Research Center has developed an innovative built-in temperature sensing method for micro-heaters. The temperature sensing of chip-based microheaters is conventionally done with the aid of a separate sensor, which typically adds to the production cost and can cause inaccuracy. These have been widely used in many applications including gas sensors, flow meters, polymerese chain reaction chambers and the hot-stage in transmission electron microscopes where accurate monitoring of temperature is critical. NASA has developed a novel resistor-based micro-heater that relies on a Joule heating mechanism. The resistance is dependent on the body temperature, which means that the microheater has an inherent sensing mechanism and eliminates the need for embedded sensors.