Optical temperature measurement techniques
First Claim
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1. A method of measuring temperature of an environment, comprising the steps of:
- positioning a quantity of luminescent material in thermal communication with said environment, said luminescent material being characterized by emitting, when excited with transient radiation, luminescent radiation having an intensity which decreases after termination of the excitation radiation, said intensity decrease, as a function of time, (A) being unique and repeatable for each temperature of the luminescent material desired to be measured within a range of temperatures, and (B) being substantially independent of the excitation radiation intensity and any prior illumination or temperature history of the luminescent material,exposing said luminescent material to transient excitation radiation, thereby causing said luminescent material, after termination of said excitation radiation, to luminesce with a decreasing intensity function related to the temperature of the luminescent material, anddetecting and measuring the decreasing luminescent intensity function beginning at a predetermined fixed time interval after said excitation radiation, thereby to measure the temperature of the luminescent material and thus also the temperature of said environment.
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Abstract
An optical temperature measurement technique that utilizes the decaying luminescent intensity characteristic of a sensor composed of a luminescent material that is excited to luminescence by a light pulse or other periodic or other intermittent source of radiation. The luminescent emissions of a preferred sensor exhibit an approximately exponential decay with time that is the average of a distribution of chemically reproducible crystallites and are repeatable with a high degree of accuracy regardless of excitation level or prior temperature history of the sensor.
116 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of measuring temperature of an environment, comprising the steps of:
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positioning a quantity of luminescent material in thermal communication with said environment, said luminescent material being characterized by emitting, when excited with transient radiation, luminescent radiation having an intensity which decreases after termination of the excitation radiation, said intensity decrease, as a function of time, (A) being unique and repeatable for each temperature of the luminescent material desired to be measured within a range of temperatures, and (B) being substantially independent of the excitation radiation intensity and any prior illumination or temperature history of the luminescent material, exposing said luminescent material to transient excitation radiation, thereby causing said luminescent material, after termination of said excitation radiation, to luminesce with a decreasing intensity function related to the temperature of the luminescent material, and detecting and measuring the decreasing luminescent intensity function beginning at a predetermined fixed time interval after said excitation radiation, thereby to measure the temperature of the luminescent material and thus also the temperature of said environment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of measuring temperature of a surface, comprising the steps of:
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attaching a layer of luminescent material to said surface, said luminescent material being characterized by emitting, when excited with transient radiation, luminescent radiation having a characteristic decaying intensity which decreases after termination of the excitation radiation, said intensity decrease, as a function of time, (A) being unique and repeatable for each temperature of the luminescent material desired to be measured within a range of temperatures, and (B) being substantially independent of the excitation radiation intensity and any prior illumination or temperature history of the luminescent material, positioning an end of an optical fiber communication medium in the vicinity of said luminescent material layer but not in contact with it, exposing said luminescent material through said optical fiber medium end to transient illumination radiation, thereby causing said luminescent material, after termination of said excitation radiation, to luminesce with a decreasing intensity function related to the temperature of the luminescent material and the surface, directing said luminescent intensity through said optical fiber communication medium from its said end to a detection position, and detecting and measuring at said detection position the luminescent intensity function beginning at a predetermined fixed time interval after the termination of said excitation radiation, thereby to measure the temperature of the surface. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A system for measuring the temperature of an environment, comprising:
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a quantity of luminescent material adapted to be positioned in thermal communication with said environment, said luminescent material being characterized by emitting, when excited with transient radiation, luminescent radiation having an intensity which decreases after termination of the excitation radiation, said intensity decrease, as a function of time, (A) being unique and repeatable for each temperature of the luminescent material desired to be measured within a range of temperatures, and (B) being substantially independent of the excitation radiation intensity and any prior illumination or temperature history of the luminescent material, means including a source of transient excitation radiation for exposing said luminescent material to an excitation radiation pulse, thereby causing said luminescent material to luminesce with a decreasing intensity function after the pulse that is related to the temperature of the luminescent material, means receiving luminescent radiation of the luminescent material for detecting the decreasing intensity of said luminescent radiation, thereby to generate an electrical signal proportional thereto, and means responsive to said electrical signal for determining a decreasing characteristic of said electrical signal beginning at a particular set time interval after said excitation radiation pulse, thereby to determine a quantity that corresponds to the temperature of the luminescent material and thus also the temperature of said environment. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An instrument for measuring the temperature of an environment by use of a quantity of luminescent material adapted to be positioned in thermal communication with said environment, said luminescent material being characterized by emitting, when excited with transient radiation, luminescent radiation having an intensity function which decreases with time after termination of the excitation radiation, said instrument comprising:
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means including a source of transient excitation radiation for exposing said luminescent material to an excitation pulse, thereby causing said luminescent material to luminesce after the pulse with a decreasing intensity function that is uniquely related to the temperature of the luminescent material, means receiving luminescent radiation of the luminescent material for detecting the decreasing intensity of said luminescent radiation, thereby to generate an electrical signal proportional thereto, means responsive to said electrical signal for determining a characteristic of the decreasing signal beginning at a particular set time interval after said radiation pulse, thereby to determine a quantity that corresponds to the temperature of the luminescent material and thus also the temperature of said environment, and means responsive to the magnitude of said electrical signal for adjusting the intensity of subsequent excitation pulses in order to maintain said electrical signals within a desired magnitude range.
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30. An instrument for measuring the temperature of an environment by use of a quantity of luminescent material adapted to be positioned in thermal communication with said environment, said luminescent material being characterized by emitting, when excited with transient radiation, luminescent radiation having an intensity function which decreases with time after termination of the excitation radiation, said instrument comprising:
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means including a source of transient excitation radiation for exposing said luminescent material to an excitation pulse, thereby causing said luminescent material to luminesce after the pulse with a decreasing intensity function that is uniquely related to the temperature of the luminescent material, means receiving luminescent radiation of the luminescent material for detecting the decreasing intensity of said luminescent radiation, thereby to generate an electrical signal proportional thereto, and means responsive to said electrical signal for determining a decaying characteristic of the decreasing signal beginning at a particular set time interval after said radiation pulse, thereby to determine a quantity that corresponds to the temperature of the luminescent material and thus also the temperature of said environment.
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Specification