Patent ID: 8568027

Claim:
A temperature sensor comprising: a sensor element including a plurality of bundles of electrically interconnected carbon nanotubes having a fixed number of junctions between the bundles of electrically interconnected carbon nanotubes, wherein each bundle of the bundles of electrically interconnected carbon nanotubes includes a plurality of substantially parallel carbon nanotubes, wherein current flows between adjacent bundles of the electrically interconnected carbon nanotubes across the junctions; at least one electrical contact to the sensor element in electrical communication with the plurality of bundles of electrically interconnected carbon nanotubes; and a power source in connection with the at least one electrical contact providing a substantially constant current to the plurality of bundles of electrically interconnected carbon nanotubes from which voltage can be measured and a resistance determined, wherein the temperature sensor measures temperature independent of pressure by correlating the resistance of the bundles of electrically interconnected carbon nanotubes to temperature through a linear temperature dependent resistivity that is defined by: ρ( T )=α T+ρ T EXP( T T /( T+T S ), where ρ is the resistance, T is the temperature, α and ρ t are temperature independent constants, T t is a temperature corresponding to thermal voltage fluctuations that increase energy of electronic states above an activation energy, and T t /T s is a ratio defining tunneling in the absence of thermal fluctuations.