4H-SiC p-i-n diode as highly linear temperature sensor

The linear dependence on temperature of the voltage drop VD across a forward-biased 4H-SiC p-i-n diode is investigated experimentally. The results show that the fabri- cated temperature sensor has a high degree of linearity in the range from room temperature up to 573 K corresponding to a root-mean-square error lower than 0.5%. A maximum sensitivity of 2.66 mV/K was calculated. The low saturation current of the p-i-n diode, well below the forward biasing current also at high temperatures, reduces the nonlinear effects in the VD –T characteristic allowing the design and fabrication of highly linear sensors operating in a wider temperature range.