Produkt-Neuheit

In high-current applications, such as charging infrastructure components for e-mobility, temperature monitoring is required by law. The goal is to prevent damage to components caused by excessive temperatures and to detect malfunctions during the charging process in a timely manner.
In collaboration with Fraunhofer IVI and Fraunhofer IWU, Fraunhofer IST has developed a thin-film temperature sensor designed for temperature measurement during the transmission of extremely high power for charging connectors. The measurement data obtained on an equivalence test bench provide direct insight into the temperature behavior of the electrical contact partners, which are essential for power transmission.

High-electric-strength thin-film sensors on electrical contact partners
A thin-film system optimized for electrical insulation was deposited directly onto a high-current contact partner made of electrolytic copper. The electrically insulating base layer, consisting of approximately 8 μm of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), has a breakdown voltage of 1.4 kV. A 200 nm-thick sensor layer of chromium was deposited onto this insulating layer. Finally, an aluminum oxide layer approximately 2.5 μm thick was applied, serving both as wear protection and for electrical insulation.

Temperature Measurement in High-Current Transmission Units
The electrical contact partners were tested for functionality on an equivalence test bench at Fraunhofer IVI. During testing, the layer system was exposed to varying current loads between 300 A and 600 A without sustaining damage. The behavior of the sensors indicates low latency and validates the expected temperature profile of the contact partners.

Outlook
The results to date show that thin-film sensor technology enables temperature measurement in the immediate vicinity of the electrical contact points, so the goal is to use these sensors for condition monitoring of the charging connector. In addition to the measurements on the Fraunhofer IVI equivalence test bench, there are currently plans to test the sensors in an MCS charging connector under real-world conditions.

https://www.ist.fraunhofer.de/en/expertise/sensor-technology.html