Temperature locale sensors and related methods

1. A temperature sensor, comprising:

an enclosure defining a sealed volume at a known pressure; and

a phase-change material within the sealed volume, the phase-change material formulated to change from a gaseous phase to a solid phase, without condensing to a liquid phase, at the known pressure and a predetermined deposition temperature.

2. The temperature sensor of claim 1 , wherein the phase-change material consists of a high-purity element.

3. The temperature sensor of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure comprises an opaque material.

4. The temperature sensor of claim 1 , further comprising at least one other phase-change material within the sealed volume, the at least one other phase-change material formulated to change from a gaseous phase to a solid phase, without condensing to a liquid phase, at the known pressure and another predetermined deposition temperature.

5. The temperature sensor of claim 1 , further comprising electrodes extending into the sealed volume.

6. The temperature sensor of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure comprises a translucent material.

7. The temperature sensor of claim 6 , wherein the translucent material comprises quartz or sapphire.

8. The temperature sensor of claim 1 , further comprising at least one other enclosure defining therein another sealed volume at another known pressure.

9. The temperature sensor of claim 8 , further comprising another amount of the phase-change material within the other sealed volume of the other enclosure.

10. The temperature sensor of claim 8 , wherein the other known pressure is about equal to the known pressure.

11. The temperature sensor of claim 10 , further comprising another phase-change material within the other enclosure.

12. A method of forming a temperature sensor, the method comprising enclosing a phase-change material within a sealed volume at a known pressure, the phase-change material formulated to exhibit a gas-to-solid phase change at the known pressure and a predetermined deposition temperature.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein enclosing a phase-change material within a sealed volume at a known pressure comprises enclosing the phase-change material within the sealed volume below the triple point of the phase-change material.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein enclosing a phase-change material within a sealed volume at a known pressure comprises enclosing a solid mass of the phase-change material within the sealed volume at the known pressure.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein enclosing a phase-change material within a sealed volume at a known pressure comprises enclosing another phase-change material within the sealed volume at the known pressure, the other phase-change material formulated to exhibit a gas-to-solid phase change at the known pressure and a different predetermined deposition temperature.

16. A method for using a temperature sensor to determine a location of a predetermined temperature within an environment, the method comprising:

disposing, within the environment, a temperature sensor comprising an enclosure and a phase-change material, the enclosure defining a sealed volume at a known pressure, the phase-change material being within the sealed volume and being formulated to change from a gaseous phase to a solid phase, without condensing to a liquid phase, at the known pressure and a predetermined deposition temperature equal to the predetermined temperature;

with the phase-change material at least partially in the gaseous phase, and not in the liquid phase, retaining the sealed volume within the environment as the phase-change material changes from the gaseous phase to the solid phase, forming solid grain deposits within the sealed volume; and

measuring a location of the solid grain deposits to determine the location of the predetermined temperature.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising, after measuring the location of the solid grain deposits, exposing the solid grain deposits to temperatures above a sublimation temperature of the phase-change material to reset the temperature sensor.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein disposing, within the environment, the temperature sensor comprises disposing, within the environment, the temperature sensor while the phase-change material is in the solid phase.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising, prior to retaining the sealed volume within the environment as the phase-change material changes from the gaseous phase to the solid phase, exposing the sealed volume to temperatures within the environment exceeding a sublimation temperature of the phase-change material.

20. A method of using a temperature sensor to determine a location of a maximum temperature within an environment, the method comprising:

providing a temperature sensor comprising a solid mass of a phase-change material within a sealed volume at a known pressure, the sealed volume defined by an enclosure of the temperature sensor, the solid mass disposed in a central portion of the temperature sensor, the phase-change material being formulated to change from a gaseous phase to a solid phase, without condensing to a liquid phase, at the known pressure and a predetermined deposition temperature;

disposing the temperature sensor within the environment and exposing the solid mass to a temperature greater than a sublimation temperature of the phase-change material;

within the environment, exposing distal ends of the temperature sensor to temperatures equal to or less than the predetermined deposition temperature of the phase-change material to deposit solid grains of the phase-change material within the sealed volume proximate each of the distal ends of the temperature sensor; and

measuring a mid-point between the solid grains to determine the location of the maximum temperature within the environment.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising determining a grain size of the solid grains.