Temperature sensors based on Ensinger Microsystems Technology

Temperature sensors are one of the most classic and well-known applications of microsystems technology. Modern household electronics such as refrigerators, dishwashers and ovens, as well as high-tech applications in medical technology and aerospace, would be inconceivable without temperature sensors.

In the field of temperature sensors, the choice of the substrate on which they are built has also been a matter of course. Thin-film resistive temperature sensors, also known as Pt-elements (e.g. PT1000), are currently commonly mounted on ceramic substrates such as alumina. Alumina ceramics are electrically insulating, stable at high temperatures, chemically resistant to solvents and therefore offer good conditions for the construction of resistive temperature sensor elements using lithography and the PVD process.

Limitations of the technology: complex process chains and costly process steps 

As many advantages as alumina ceramics offer, they also impose limitations on temperature sensor manufacturers. The main disadvantages are the deformation of the substrates caused by the upstream sintering processes, the relatively high roughness and the porosity. It is also advantageous if the substrate on which the temperature is to be measured quickly and accurately has a low heat capacity and low thermal conductivity. In order to achieve this with ceramics, either expensive zirconium ceramics have to be used or the sensors have to be made very thin. 

Rethinking temperature sensors: Ensinger Microsystems Technology

Our newly developed Ensinger Microsystems Technology (EMST) offers an advantageous alternative. Based on TECACOMP PEEK LDS, we combine favourable material properties with innovative process technology. The result is solutions that not only push the boundaries of microsystems technology, but also pave the way for customer-specific solutions.

Material-specific advantages

Plastics, and especially the matrix material PEEK, have an advantageous "poorer" thermal conductivity compared to ceramics: The heat to be measured is not dissipated as quickly as with ceramic substrates. 

Functionalisation

TECACOMP PEEK LDS can be functionalised by PVD, PECVD and other thin-film processes, is highly temperature stable and chemically inert. 

Individualisation

With the help of EMST, the temperature sensors can also be produced cost-effectively in various sizes and quantities without lithography, opening up new perspectives for the individualisation of classic sensor elements.

Product portfolio

The substrate material is also available from Ensinger as a film substrate in thicknesses of 100 µm, 200 µm and 500 µm and, in addition to the manufacture of thin injection moulded substrates, represents a further alternative for the construction of conventional temperature sensors.

Integration

Regardless of the substrate chosen, TECAWAFER PEEK LDS black, TECAWAFER, PEEK LDS grey, TECAWAFER PEEK LDS MT grey or the highly integratable solution using Ensinger Microsystems Technology, TECACOMP PEEK LDS is the innovative solution for the construction of temperature sensors and, in addition to its advantageous material properties, offers the possibility of laser direct structuring for contacting and innovative integration of the sensor element at the target location.

The EMST Substrate portfolio

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