Resistance temperature detector (RTD)

• Electrical resistance can also be used to determine

temperature.

• The resistance of many metals (e.g., iron, copper, and

aluminum) increases at about 0.3%/°C over a wide
temperature range.

• To obtain a significant amount of resistance (e.g., 100 ),

the metal (in the form of fine wire) is either wound on a
core or patterned as a thin film on a substrate. The
resulting device is known as a resistance temperature
detector (RTD).
resistance temperature detector (RTD)

• While RTDs can be made of nearly any metal,

platinum is the metal of choice.
• Platinum is highly corrosion resistant and stable
over a wide temperature range, and it can be
refined to levels of high purity, making for
consistent sensors.
• ITS-90 specifies the platinum RTD as the means
of measuring temperatures between physical
reference points ranging from the triple point of
hydrogen (13.8033 K) to the freezing point of
silver (961.78 K).
Resistance Temperature Detectors
(RTDs)
➢ Wire wound and thin film
devices.
➢ Nearly linear over a wide
range of temperatures.
➢ Can be made small
enough to have response
times of a fraction of a
second.
➢ Require an electrical
current to produce a
voltage drop across the
sensor
resistance temperature detector (RTD)
 RTD Applications
➢ Air conditioning and
refrigeration servicing
➢ Furnace servicing
➢ Foodservice
processing
➢ Medical research
➢ Textile production
 RTDs
Advantages Disadvantages

• Most stable over time • High cost

• Most accurate • Slowest response time
• Most repeatable • Low sensitivity to small
temperature temperature changes
measurement • Sensitive to vibration
• Very resistant to (strains the platinum
contamination/ element wire)
• corrosion of the RTD • Decalibration if used
element beyond sensor’s
temperature ratings
• Somewhat fragile
 Thermistor
• For those of us with more pedestrian measurement
requirements—and smaller budgets—thermistors offer
another type of temperature-to-resistance transducer.
• These devices are made from various nonmetallic
conductors (e.g., metal oxides and silicon) and offer the
advantage of much higher thermal coefficients of
resistance compared to RTD.
• Thermistors come in two basic flavors: negative
temperature coefficient (NTC) and positive temperature
coefficient (PTC). The resistance of an NTC thermistor
drops with increasing temperature, while that of a PTC
device rises.
 Thermistor
• One of the advantages provided by a thermistor over a
metal RTD is that the sensitivity ( R/ T) of a thermistor
can be an order of magnitude greater than that of the
RTD. NTC thermistors with sensitivities of –4%/ °C are
not uncommon. Such high sensitivities make it possible
to easily measure temperature changes on the order of
hundredths of a degree.
• Because an NTC thermistor has a highly nonlinear
response, it’s often characterized by a measure called β
, which is used to describe an exponential fit of
resistance over a given temperature range.
 Thermistor
• For a thermistor, β is calculated:

where:
T1 and T0 = two reference temperatures in K
RT1 and RT0 = the resistances at T1 and T0

The resulting value of b can then be used to estimate RT for a given T:

 Thermistor
• Conversely, if you know the resistance, the estimated
temperature can be obtained by:

To make their customers’ lives easier, thermistor

manufacturers often provide detailed tables of
resistance vs. temperature for their devices,
reducing the need for complex calculations,
especially when high degrees of accuracy are not required.
 Thermistor
• Although you can measure the resistance of an RTD or
thermistor with an ohmmeter, it’s often more convenient
to convert the resistance into a proportional voltage.
• The circuit shown in next figure will bias a thermistor or
RTD with a constant current and deliver an output
voltage proportional to temperature. Because a
thermistor or RTD must be powered up to be read,
excessive bias current can lead to self-heating effects.
• While reducing the bias current will minimize self-heating
errors, it will also minimize the available output voltage
signal.
 Thermistors
• A semiconductor used as a temperature sensor.
• Mixture of metal oxides pressed into a bead, wafer or other
shape.
• Beads can be very small, less than 1 mm in some cases.
• The resistance decreases as temperature increases,
negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor.
 Thermistors
• Most are seen in
medical equipment
markets.
• Thermistors are also
used are for engine
coolant, oil, and air
temperature
measurement in the
transportation
industry.
 Thermistors
Advantages Disadvantages
• High sensitivity to • Limited temperature
small temperature range
changes • Fragile
• Temperature • Some initial accuracy
measurements “drift”
become more stable • Decalibration if used
with use beyond the sensor’s
• Copper or nickel temperature ratings
extension wires can • Lack of standards for
be used replacement
❖ Liquid and gas thermometer
❖ Bimetallic strip
❖ Resistance thermometers (RTD and Thermistors)
❖ Thermocouple
❖ Junction semiconductor sensor
❖ Radiation pyrometer

16
 P-N Junctions/
Semiconductor
• Semiconductor devices can also be used to measure
temperature. At a constant current bias, the voltage drop
across a silicon P-N diode junction shows roughly a –2
mV/ °C temperature coefficient.
• Because the P-N junction is the basic building block of
diodes, transistors, and ICs, temperature sensing can be
incorporated in many devices at low cost. This technique
is used in the onboard temperature sensors of
microprocessors (e.g., Intel’s Pentium) and for the
thermal-shutdown circuits of power-supply chips.
• Next shows how a 1N914 diode can be used as an
inexpensive (<$0.05) temperature probe.
 P-N Junctions

When a silicon diode is biased

with a constant current (A),
the voltage drop across it
varies with temperature
at the rate of about –2 mV/°C
(B).
 P-N Junctions
• inexpensive and sometimes even free
• P-N junction thermometers can provide a fair
degree of accuracy. But they’re more often useful
for coarse, inexpensive measurements.
• The room-temperature output voltage is about 600
mV, and even then the voltage varies both from unit
to unit and with bias current.
• Sensitivity also varies.
 Semiconductor Applications
• Hard Disk Drives
• Personal Computers
• Electronic Test Equipment
• Office Equipment
• Domestic Appliances
• Process Control
• Cellular Phones
 Radiation Sensing
• Sometimes you need to measure an object’s
temperature without making physical contact with it. This
situation is especially common when the object in
question is very hot (e.g., molten metal in a steel
foundry). Noncontact temperature sensing is also useful
when temperature measurements must be made quickly
on a series of objects, such as items moving down an
assembly line. Radiation sensing is one way to measure
temperature remotely.
• You can infer the temperature of an object by the amount
and wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation emitted
by the object.
• Although this is obvious for very hot objects that
are incandescent (at temperatures >1000°C), it
is also true for any object with a temperature
greater than absolute zero.
• A very cold object will, of course, radiate much
less energy than a hot one; total radiation per
unit area is proportional to the fourth power of
temperature:
R = k T4
• The radiation emanating from a warm object is
theoretically distributed over a wide (infinite) bandwidth,
ranging from radio waves through gamma rays and
beyond. Developing effective radiation detectors to cover
such a wide range of wavelengths (picometers to
kilometers) would be a difficult, if not impossible, task.
• Fortunately, the radiation is not uniformly distributed
across all wavelengths but has well-defined emission
peaks.
• For temperatures of common interest (e.g., from 0°C to a
few thousand °C), these peaks fall mainly in the IR to
visible light ranges—meaning optical techniques can be
used to construct detectors.
• Hot objects emit IR
and visible radiation
as a function of their
surface temperature.
As an object gets
hotter, not only does
it radiate more, but
the peak
wavelengths it emits
get shorter.
• There are two types of IR detectors in
common use:
– thermal detectors
– quantum detectors.
• A schematic view of one type of thermal
detector, a thermopile, is shown in the next
Figure.
• A thermopile radiation
sensor develops a
voltage output in
response to incoming
radiation. The device is a
series connection of
many thermocouple
junctions arranged so that
incoming radiation heats
a group of detecting
junctions while not
heating a group of
reference junctions.
• In this device, a series of thermocouple junctions are
slightly heated by incoming radiation, generating a small
voltage. By wiring a large number of junctions in a
series, the resultant voltage is multiplied by the number
of junctions, enabling detection of small temperature
changes. To maximize absorption, the ac tive area is
often coated with black paint or a similar material.
• Because any radiation absorbed by the device is
converted to heat, this type of detector does not
discriminate between radiation of different wavelengths.
For this reason, an optical filter is often used to exclude
radiation at unwanted wavelengths.
• Quantum detectors do not rely on the conversion of
incoming radiation to heat, but convert incoming photons
directly into an electrical signal.
• When photons in a particular range of wavelengths are
absorbed by the detector, they create free electron-hole
pairs, which can be detected as electrical current.
• Because the energies of IR photons are significantly
lower than those of visible-light photons, exotic low-
band-gap semiconductors (e.g., indium-antimonide or
mercury-cadmium-telluride) must be used to implement
this type of detector.
• A quantum IR detector
is constructed from a
piece of low-bandgap
semiconductor. When
an incoming IR photon
is absorbed by the
material, it produces an
electron-hole pair that
can then temporarily
conduct an electric
current.
• Quantum detectors provide several advantages over
thermal detectors.
• They can provide high sensitivity for long-wavelength
radiation (10 µm), making them useful for low-
temperature (<0°C) measurements.
• They are also fast. Because they directly detect photons,
as opposed to their cumulative thermal effects, they can
provide response time on the order of microseconds.
• On the other hand, because the energies of the incoming
photons are close to room-temperature thermal
energies, quantum sensors must be cooled to cryogenic
temperatures to provide maximum sensitivity.
• The next figure shows how a radiation detector
can be used to measure temperature.
• An enclosure is provided around the detector to
limit its field of view to an appropriately sized
target area.
• Depending on the application, additional optics
may be provided to increase the amount of
radiation gathered or better define the target
area.
• The raw signal from the transducer is then
amplified and linearized through either analog
circuitry or a look-up table to provide a
temperature output.
In addition to an IR sensor, an optical thermometer requires
circuitry to linearize the output and correct the signal
for variations in target emissivity.
• Because the primary measurement is of radiation
intensity, there are several conditions that can cause
measurement error. The first is when the target does not
fill the detector’s field of view. A target that fills only half
the detector’s field appears to be colder than one at the
same temperature that does fill the field of view.
• Another source of error is absorption of radiation
between the target and the detector. Absorption-induced
errors have numerous causes. Viewing windows can
attenuate transmitted radiation and can become dirty.
Some “invisible” gases, such as water vapor and carbon
dioxide, strongly absorb IR radiation at certain
wavelengths.
• Different targets emit radiation at different rates
depending on composition and surface characteristics.
• A measure of how well a given surface radiates is called
emissivity.
• The maximum rate of emission is obtained by a
hypothetical surface called a black-body radiator, which
has an emissivity of 1.
• All other targets have an emissivity ranging between 0
and 1.
• Practical radiation thermometers have adjustable gains
to account for both changes in target emissivity and
absorption errors.
• One way of reducing the effect of absorption and
emissivity variation is to measure the color of the
radiation emanating from the target. A white-hot object
doesn’t merely emit more radiation than a red-hot one;
the hotter object emits a larger fraction of its radiation at
shorter wavelengths.
• By measuring the ratio of radiation intensity at two
different wavelengths, you can achieve a temperature
reading that is largely independent of variations in
radiation transmission or target emissivity. This is the
basis for the two-color radiation thermometer, where the
colors of interest may be deep in the IR range. Although
a two-color radiation thermometer is not foolproof, it
does provide measurements that are less susceptible to
target variation and signal corruption than those provided
by measuring total radiance.
 The Best Method for the Job
• Because temperature is important in such
a wide range of applications, many
different measurement techniques have
been developed to meet widely varying
technical and economic requirements.
• With a solid understanding of how each
method works, you can more easily
choose the one best suited to your
application.
 Thermal Sensor Vendors
➢Minco
➢Pyrotek
➢Omega
➢Watlow
➢Texas Instrument
➢National Semiconductor
➢Maxim
 Determining Factors
➢ Low Power Extras
➢ Serial Interface ➢ I2C Interface
➢ Small ➢ Temperature Alarms
➢ Accurate
➢ Wide temperature
range
 So which one is better? Advantages
Simple, rugged
High temp. operation
Low Cost
Thermocouple No resistance lead wire problems
Point temp. sensing
Fastest response to temperature changes
Most stable over time
Most accurate
RTD Most repeatable temp. measurement
Very resistant to contamination/corrosion of the
RTD element
High sensitivity to small temperature changes
Temperature measurements become more
Thermistor stable with use
Copper or nickel extension wires can be used

No contact with the product required

Response times as fast or faster than
thermocouples
Infrared No corrosion or oxidation to affect sensor
accuracy
High repeatability
So which one is better? Disadvantages
Least stable, least repeatable
Low sensitivity to small temperature
changes
Extension wire must be of the same
Thermocouple thermocouple type
Wire may pick up radiated electrical noise
of not shielded
Lowest accuracy
High Cost
Slowest response time
Low sensitivity to small temperature
changes
RTD Sensitive to vibration
Decalibration if used beyond sensor’s
temperature ratings
Somewhat fragile
So which one is better? Disadvantages
Limited temperature range
Fragile
Some initial accuracy “drift”
Thermistor Decalibration if used beyond the sensor’s
temperature rating
Lack of standards for replacement

High initial cost

More complex – support electronics
required
Emissivity variations affect temperature
Infrared measurement accuracy
Field of view and spot size may restrict
sensor application
Measuring accuracy affected by dust,
smoke, background radiation etc.