Thermal Image Degradation Through a Heated Sapphire Window

Abstract

Optical windows are indispensable for monitoring industrial processes under vacuum or high pressure by using thermal imagers and radiation thermometers. When a thermal imager observes a sample through an infrared window at elevated temperatures, the window emits additional thermal radiation and increases the background signal of the thermal images, which results in image degradation. Standard four-bar images with various radiance temperature differences were measured using a thermal imager with a spectral band from 3 µm to 5 µm through a UV-grade sapphire window. The four-bar images are given by a blackbody collimator with various image patterns. The window was indirectly heated in a furnace and then rapidly placed on the optical path between the collimator and the thermal imager. The four-bar image degradation was measured as a function of the window temperature and the radiance temperature difference of the four-bar pattern. A simple equation which describes the contrast of the four-bar image by using the transmittance and reflectance of the sapphire window was proposed. It was confirmed that the model can properly predict the window temperature when the appearance of the four-bar pattern cannot be determined.Keywords Aerodynamic heating · Emissivity · Infrared window · Minimum resolvable temperature difference (MRTD) · Noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) · Thermal imager