Si Diode Temperature Sensor beyond 300°C

This paper describes the performance of silicon diode as a temperature sensor when operated at extreme temperatures. Silicon p+-n-n+ junction diodes were designed in Cadence and fabricated in 1.0 μm SOI CMOS process. The diodes were operated from 22°C to 780°C at a constant current. This is for the first time in the literature we are showing that Si diode can operate as a temperature sensor at a ground breaking high temperature of up to 550°C reliably. The voltage vs temperature (V-T) slope was found around -1.3 mV/°C The graph becomes nonlinear above 550°C. Extensive simulation in 'Sentaurus Device' and theoretical calculation was carried out to match the diode temperature characteristics with the experimental results.