A new kind of temperature sensor based on a vacuum diode was proposed and numerically studied in this paper. This device operated under different electron emission mechanisms according to the electron density in the vacuum channel. The temperature determination ability of this device was only empowered when working in the electric-field-assisted thermionic emission regime (barrier-lowering effect). The simulated results indicated that the temperature-sensing range of this device was around 273 K-325 K with a supply current of 1 μA. To obtain a linear dependency of voltage on temperature, we designed a proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT) circuit. The mathematic derivation of the PTAT voltage is presented in this study. The temperature-sensing sensitivity was calculated as 7.6 mV/K according to the measured I-U (current versus voltage) characteristic. The structure and principle of the device presented in this paper might provide an alternative method for the study of temperature sensors.
Keywords: electric field assisted thermionic emission; temperature sensor; vacuum diode.