Introduction to InGaAs Over InGaAs Ratio Pyrometry
Temperature is the most frequently measured physical quantity, second only to time. Infrared technology has been used for millennia in noncontact temperature measurements. For example, fire was the target and the eye was the detector, observing how the color emitted by a flame varied based on temperature. Today, pyrometry is the primary technique of noncontact temperature measurement. Pyrometry is a method of calculating the temperature of an item remotely (sometimes at great distances), using measurements of a target’s thermal radiation (infrared light).
The ability to measure temperature remotely using pyrometry is quite advantageous, especially when the measurement target is in an unreachable location or a hazardous environment, is moving, or is a dangerously hot temperature. Pyrometry can record temperatures within a fraction of a second, and from up to hundreds of kilometers away, depending on the type of light collection optics. Pyrometry measurements also have the advantage of being immune from electrical interference, and there is no mechanical contact between the target and sensor which could influence the temperature measurement.
Ratio pyrometry in the SWIR spectrum is a powerful tool in noncontact temperature measurement. The ability of ratio pyrometry to minimize the impacts of atmospheric disturbances and target emissivity differences offer a distinct advantage over standard single-detector pyrometry. These advantages enable accurate non-contact temperature measurements in ways that were prohibitively challenging in earlier times.
GPD Optoelectronics provides a white paper, entitled “An Introduction to InGaAs Over InGaAs Ratio Pyrometry,” that explains the technology behind a ratio pyrometer using two photodiode InGaAs detectors.
About GPD Optoelectronics
Founded in 1973, GPD Optoelectronics began by making high-quality germanium transistors, but since the early 1980s the company manufactures both germanium and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) photodiodes and multi-element photodetectors.
To request more information or a quotation for these or other GPD products, contact IL Photonics.