Temperature measurement with an infrared microscope

An ir radiometric microscope system has been developed to perform noncontact and nondestructive thermal analysis of microstructures. An extension of radiometry techniques has allowed temperature measurements to be made of object sizes approaching the wavelength of the radiation being collected. A description of an ir radiometric microscope will be given along with a thermomicrographic attachment that produces ir picture facsimiles that portray the thermal patterns existing on microstructures. The thermal and photon detectors used in ir microscopy, the microscope sensitivity and performance equations, and the parameters affecting microscope resolution are discussed.