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A thermocouple produces a temperature-dependent voltage as a result of the Seebeck effect, and this voltage can be interpreted to measure temperature. Thermocouples are widely used as temperature sensors. [1] Commercial thermocouples are inexpensive, [2] interchangeable, are supplied with standard connectors, and can measure a wide range of ...
Due to the thermoelectric effect, the temperature difference causes an electrical voltage to build up within each thermocouple. This output voltage is directly proportional to the power of the incoming radiation. [10] Since a large number of thermopiles are typically connected in series, voltages of several μV to V are reached.
Thermocouples can be connected in series as thermocouple pairs with a junction located on either side of a thermal resistance layer. The output from the thermocouple pair will be a voltage directly proportional to the temperature difference across the thermal resistance layer and also to the heat flux through the thermal resistance layer.
At the atomic scale, a temperature gradient causes charge carriers in the material to diffuse from the hot side to the cold side. This is due to charge carrier particles having higher mean velocities (and thus kinetic energy) at higher temperatures, leading them to migrate on average towards the colder side, in the process carrying heat across the material.
Failures can be caused by excess temperature, excess current or voltage, ionizing radiation, mechanical shock, stress or impact, and many other causes. In semiconductor devices, problems in the device package may cause failures due to contamination, mechanical stress of the device, or open or short circuits.
Diagram of an RTG used on the Cassini probe. A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect.
The Seebeck coefficient (also known as thermopower, [1] thermoelectric power, and thermoelectric sensitivity) of a material is a measure of the magnitude of an induced thermoelectric voltage in response to a temperature difference across that material, as induced by the Seebeck effect. [2]
Vertical design has thermocouples arranged vertically between the hot and cool plates, leading to high integration of thermocouples as well as a high output voltage, making this design the most widely-used design commercially. The mixed design has the thermocouples arranged laterally on the substrate while the heat flow is vertical between plates.