Key Issues in Microscale Temperature Sensing with Thermocouple Array

Precise local temperature measurement is important for research on failure analysis of integrated circuits, micro/nano-fluidics, chemistry reactions in confined geometry, biological and biochemical reactions, etc. Thermocouple arrays are believed powerful for local temperature sensing at the microscale with high spatial, temporal, and temperature resolutions. And, as a passive device, a thermocouple array can often be embedded in a complicated solid device, providing real-time temperature information of critical regions of the device. In this work, we will discuss in detail some key issues of temperature sensing at the microscale by using thermocouple arrays, in terms of material, fabrication, calibration, measurement, time-resolvable mapping, and potential application.