Chip-based high-precision fluorescent fiber-optic temperature sensor

Fluorescent fiber-optic temperature sensors have found widespread applications owing to their high sensitivity and broad temperature-sensing range. However, the noise induced by numerous discrete components remains challenging to address via algorithmic improvements. In this paper, a chip integrating both readout circuit and LED driver is designed and fabricated in 0.18-µm CMOS process. Based on this chip, an integrated fluorescent fiber-optic temperature sensor is built. Compared with its discrete counterparts, the integrated sensor exhibits a 12.18% reduction in noise voltage. With identical fluorescence lifetime extraction algorithm, the integrated sensor achieves a 56.47% improvement in fluorescence lifetime accuracy. Moreover, the integrated sensor exhibits a temperature resolution of 0.056 °C, representing a 39.13% improvement over the discrete sensor. Meanwhile, the temperature measurement range spans from - 20 °C to 120 °C, with an average temperature sensitivity of 0.0064 ms°C- 1. This performance enhancement renders it well-suited for high-precision temperature measurement.