Integrated high temperature electronics for sensors in harsh environments

As part of the Fraunhofer Lighthouse project "eHarsh" conducted by eight Fraunhofer institutes, a universal chipset was designed for the readout of sensors in harsh environments. The SOI-CMOS technology used was especially developed for high-temperature applications and allows operating temperatures of up to 300 °C. The chipset consists of an analogue sensor front-end IC for resistive sensors, a microcontroller and an interface IC. Measurements of the analog frontend IC show functional performance up to 300 °C and only a slight decrease of the measured SNR from 87 dB at 25 °C to 84 dB at high temperatures.