Temperature Sensing

Temperature is the world’s most widely measured physical phenomenon. There are four main temperature sensor technologies, each with its own signal conditioning challenges.

  • Thermocouples: small, rugged, and inexpensive, thermocouples have a wide temperature range (–270°C to +1800°C), but they require complicated signal conditioning and linearization.
  • Thermistors: inexpensive, but they have a limited temperature range (typically –40°C to 150°C ), are highly nonlinear, and require significant signal conditioning.
  • RTDs: accurate, stable, and have a wide temperature range. RTDs require precision signal conditioning to take full advantage of their accuracy. The most accurate RTDs are built with platinum and are more expensive than other temperature sensors.
  • Silicon-Based Temperature Measurement: linear, stable, and easy to use silicon-based temperature sensors are best when measuring a narrower temperature range (–55°C to +150°C).
  • Digital Sensors: linear, stable, and easy to use digital sensors offer the highest accuracy with breakthrough performance over a wide industrial temperature range (–20°C to +105°C).

Whichever temperature sensor type you choose, ADI has a wealth of signal chains, integrated solutions, and discrete technologies to jump start your design.

Signal Chains

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Click on a part in the diagram below

Reference Designs

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