Patent ID: 8098966

Claim:
A thermal sensing fiber grid comprising: a plurality of rows of thermal sensing fibers; a plurality of columns of thermal sensing fibers; wherein each thermal sensing fiber includes a semiconducting element having a fiber length and being characterized by a bandgap energy corresponding to a selected operational temperature range of the fiber in which there is produced a change in thermally-excited electronic charge carrier population in the semiconducting element in response to a temperature change in the selected temperature range, at least one pair of conducting electrodes being in contact with the semiconducting element along the fiber length, and an insulator along the fiber length with the semiconducting material, conducting electrodes, and insulator each being characterized by a viscosity that is less than about 10 6 Poise, while maintaining structural material integrity, at a common temperature; and an electronic circuit for and connected to each thermal sensing fiber for producing an indication of thermal sensing fiber grid coordinates of a change in ambient temperature.