Patent ID: 8459865

Claim:
A heat flux sensor, comprising: an absorber plate made of a first metal, and comprising a front side facing toward an incident heat flux and an opposing back side; a thermal bus made of the first metal, and comprising a near end and a far end; a thermal resistor made of a second metal different than the first metal, and comprising a first side and an opposing second side; wherein the first side of the thermal resistor is attached to the back side of the absorber plate, and the second side of the thermal resistor is attached to the near end of the thermal bus; a first dissimilar metal thermocouple junction located at a first interface between the absorber plate and the resistor; a second dissimilar metal thermocouple junction located at a second interface between the resistor and the thermal bus; a heat sink attached to the thermal bus; a first electrical lead electrically connected to the absorber plate; and a second electrical lead electrically connected to the thermal bus or the heat sink; wherein a voltage difference is generated across the first and second electrical leads, caused by a Seebeck effect, when a localized heat flux is applied to the front side of the absorber plate and heat is conducted through the absorber plate, then through the thermal resistor to the thermal bus, and finally to the heat sink, thereby causing a temperature difference to develop between the first and second dissimilar metal thermocouple junctions.