A device for the measurement of the thermal properties of small (μL) volumes

Author

Atherton, J.J. ; Rosamond, M.C. ; Johnstone, S. ; Zeze, D.A.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Eng. & Comput. Sci., Univ. of Durham, Durham, UK

fYear

2010

fDate

6-8 Oct. 2010

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

A microfabricated sensor capable of measuring the thermal conductivity of small samples is presented. A micro heater and thin film thermocouples are formed on a polyimide substrate and subsequently used to thermally probe samples. Encapsulation of the devices by polyimide allows measurement of otherwise difficult to measure samples, such as conductive surfaces or wet environments. In combination with the lateral dimensions, it is anticipated that such devices will be of use for monitoring biological materials or other small scale samples. Mixtures of glycerin and water are used here to demonstrate the ability of the device to measure the thermal properties of small (~100μL) volumes.

Keywords

electric heating; encapsulation; microfabrication; microsensors; thermal conductivity measurement; thermocouples; thin film sensors; biological material monitoring; conductive surfaces; device encapsulation; microfabricated sensor; microheater; polyimide substrate; thermal conductivity measurement; thermal property measurement; thin film thermocouples; wet environment; Conductivity; Heating; Polyimides; Substrates; Temperature measurement; Thermal conductivity;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Thermal Investigations of ICs and Systems (THERMINIC), 2010 16th International Workshop on

Conference_Location

Barcelona

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-8453-9

Type

conf

Filename

5636297