A scanning thermocouple probe for temperature mapping

A simple thermocouple probe with tip diameter less than 10 /spl mu/m has been developed for mapping temperature distribution on surfaces. The fabrication procedures of the thermocouple tip involve fixing a fine tungsten wire inside a glass capillary tube and coating the exposed tip with gold. We have successfully used the thermocouple tip to obtain a two-dimensional temperature map on the heatsink of a high-power light-emitting diode (LED), thus demonstrating this device as a low-cost alternative to expensive infrared cameras for near-field thermal imaging.