A V2O5/4H-SiC Schottky diode-based PTAT sensor operating in a wide range of bias currents

A proportional to absolute temperature sensor (PTAT) based on V2O5/4H-SiC (vanadium pentoxide/4H polytype of silicon carbide) Schottky diodes is presented. The linear dependence on temperature of the voltage difference appearing at the terminals of two constant-current forward-biased diodes has been used for thermal sensing in the wide temperature range from T = 147 K to 400 K which extends down the state-of-the art of more than 80 K. The proposed sensor shows a sensitivity of 307 μV/K, a good reproducibility and a stable linear output also in case of deviation of the two bias currents from the best operating condition.