High-sensitivity, surface-attached heat flux sensors
A new type of flat, surface-attached heat flux sensor has been developed for a variety of heat transfer measurements. This differential thermopile transducer uses new polymer-based materials and a novel patterning technology. The patterning is done using photoimageable dielectrics, allowing definition of 125?m features over a large area. Thin anodized aluminium is used as a substrate material to achieve low thermal resistance of the sensor. The multilayer technology was used to fabricate a variety of heat sensors which have 1550 thermocouples/cm2 and a sensitivity of up to 40mV/(W/cm2). The applications of these sensors include integrated circuit heat flux measurement, fire detection, insulation testing, and biological heat transfer measurement.
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