Fabrication and piezoresistance of high temperature ITO thin film strain gauge

High temperature thin film strain gauges are widely used in the strain measurement of extreme conditions, especially in the high temperature components. ITO thin film strain gauges can generally be applied to the strain measurements above 1000℃. ITO high temperature thin film strain gauge was fabricated on the ceramic substrate using magnetron sputtering, and then was thermal treated at high temperature in pure N2 atmosphere, with the purpose of studying its microstructure, XPS, temperature resistance characteristics and piezoresistive response. The results show that the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of ITO thin film strain gauge can stabilize at -750×10-6℃-1. In addition, ITO thin film strain gauge is loaded at 1200℃, and the results show that the drift rate is 0.0018 h-1 and the strain factor is 16. Stable TCR and low drift rate of ITO thin film strain gauge provide the possibility for its application in the strain measurement of the hot end components.