A temperature sensor arrangement (10), including a bandgap voltage generator (12), which is configured to provide an output voltage (V.sub.bg); at least one semiconductor junction (14) for temperature sensing, which is biased by a biasing current flowing through said semiconductor junction (14); and at least one poly-resistor (R.sub.b3) which is connected between the output (23) of the bandgap voltage generator (12) and the semiconductor junction (14), thereby providing said biasing current from the bandgap voltage generator (12) to the semiconductor junction (14).

A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor well. The semiconductor device includes a channel structure disposed above the first semiconductor well and extending along a first lateral direction. The semiconductor device includes a gate structure extending along a second lateral direction and straddling the channel structure. The semiconductor device includes a first epitaxial structure disposed on a first side of the channel structure. The semiconductor device includes a second epitaxial structure disposed on a second side of the channel structure, the first side and second side opposite to each other in the first lateral direction. The first epitaxial structure is electrically coupled to the first semiconductor well with a second semiconductor well in the first semiconductor well, and the second epitaxial structure is electrically isolated from the first semiconductor well with a dielectric layer.

A diode (11) is provided on a substrate (1) and thermally insulated from the substrate (1). A positive feedback circuit (18) provides a positive feedback loop so that when a current of the diode (11) decreases due to a change in temperature of the diode (11), the positive feedback circuit (18) further decreases the current of the diode (11), and when the current of the diode (11) increases, the positive feedback circuit (18) further increases the current of the diode (11).

A method for estimating the junction temperature on-line on an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power module, including the following steps. Estimate the junction temperature by the temperature sensitive electrical parameter method, set the space thermal model of the extended state, and apply the Kalman filter to the junction temperature estimation. The temperature sensitive electrical parameter method estimates the junction temperature of the IGBT power module in real time, selects the IGBT conduction voltage drop V.sub.CE(ON) as the temperature sensitive electrical parameter, and provides a V.sub.CE(ON) on-line measuring circuit. The power loss of the diode and IGBT and the estimated value of junction temperature obtained by the temperature sensitive electrical parameter method are taken as the input of the Kalman filter, and measurement noise and process noise are considered to obtain an optimal estimated value of junction temperature.

The described technology is generally directed towards an electrical current based temperature sensor and temperature information digitizer, referred to herein as a “temperature digitizer”. The temperature digitizer can include a sensor core, a digital to analog converter, a current comparator, and a processor. The processor can be configured to perform multiple current comparisons using the sensor core, digital to analog converter, and current comparator, and the processor can generate a digital code that reflects the results of the multiple current comparisons. The digital code represents the temperature.

Absolute temperature measurements of integrated photonic devices can be accomplished with integrated bandgap temperature sensors located adjacent the photonic devices. In various embodiments, the temperature of the active region within a diode structure of a photonic device is measured with an integrated bandgap temperature sensor that includes one or more diode junctions either in the semiconductor device layer beneath the active region or laterally adjacent to the photonic device, or in a diode structure formed above the semiconductor device layer and adjacent the diode structure of the photonic device.

A gas sensing device, comprising a bulk and an array of gas sensing elements that are thermally isolated from the bulk, wherein each gas sensing element of a plurality of gas sensing elements of the array comprises (i) a gas reactive element that has a gas dependent temperature parameter; (ii) a semiconductor temperature sensing element that is thermally coupled to the gas reactive element and is configured to generate detection signals that are responsive to a temperature of the gas reactive element; and (iii) multiple heating elements that are configured to heat the gas reactive element to at least one predefined temperature.

Structures including non-volatile memory elements and methods of forming such structures. The structure includes a first non-volatile memory element, a second non-volatile memory element, and temperature sensing electronics coupled to the first non-volatile memory element and the second non-volatile memory element.

An apparatus is provided which generates a reverse bandgap reference using capacitive bias, which is applied to a single n-well diode. The capacitive bias allows for determining the current density precisely by pure timing control. An apparatus is also described for sensing temperature in which a forward-bias diode voltage can be sampled with a capacitor, and large current ratios are possible (e.g., ratio N greater than 1000). Duty cycle of a digital output of the sensor is used to determine the temperature sensed by the sensor.

Systems and methods of the present invention allow to determine ambient gas temperature in harsh environments such as in a steam autoclave chamber during a sterilization process. In certain embodiments of the invention, temperature data is gathered using a sensor that is placed in an enclosed electronics-based temperature logging device. A capsule seals the temperature logging device except for a through hole that, during regular operation, allows gas to directly contact a surface of the temperature logging device in order to reduce a time lag between the data logging device and an ambient gas. As a result, the data logging device accurately can track temperature variations when placed, for example, inside a chamber.