A novel temperature sensor for a calorimetric thermal converter

The calorimetric thermal voltage converter (CTVC) is used as a primary AC voltage standard for the radio frequency range. The vital part of the CTVC is the temperature sensor. The original CTVC has a hand-made multijunction temperature sensor in the form of a spiral constantan wire that is wound around a plexiglass rod, and it is selectively deposited with copper. This article presents research on the possibility of using flexible printed circuit board (PCB) technology to manufacture a temperature sensor for the CTVC. The optimization process enables improvement of the sensitivity of the sensor by around 15%. Due to the relatively low electrical resistance of the sensor, its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is similar to those of the best attainable PMJTCs, which utilize temperature sensors fabricated with expensive and complex thin-film technology. The obtained results indicate the applicability of the developed sensor in an efficient calorimetric thermal converter.