Printable tiny thermocouple by liquid metal gallium and its matching metal

Direct printing of thermocouples by the liquid metal was proposed. The fabricated temperature sensor composed of gallium and its matching metal exhibited excellent linear dependence between thermoelectric voltage and temperature within the range from 0 to 200 degrees C. Further, it was disclosed that liquid metals with high purity could be used for high precision thermocouples with tiny size, which were quite convenient to be used in micro channel measurement due to their fluidity in making sensors; while liquid metals with a small amount of oxides were handy for depositing on the substrate by hand-written style, with thin film thickness of approximately 50 mu m. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4746397]