Detection of on-chip temperature gradient using a 1.5V low power CMOS temperature sensor

We present a 1.5V low power CMOS temperature sensor for detection of on-chip temperature gradients. The temperature sensor has measured accuracy of+/- 0.25/spl deg/C over a temperature range from 25/spl deg/C to 97/spl deg/C. The power consumption of a single temperature sensor is 96nW and the layout occupies 64.8/spl mu/m/sup 2/ in a 0.5/spl mu/m CMOS technology. A chip with spatially non-uniform heat generation devices and an array of temperature sensors was fabricated and tested. Experimental results demonstrate that the sensors successfully detect the induced temperature gradient on the chip.