OPTICAL SENSORS

varies as the fourth power of the temperature. Asystem that responded to this energy could
thus measure the temperature of the emitting object. In practice, it is virtually impossible to
build a detection system to respond to radiation of all wavelengths. Astudy of the curves

Total Radiation Pyrometer

One type of broadband pyrometer is designed to collect radiation extending from the visible
through the infrared wavelengths, and is referred to as a total radiation pyrometer. the
detector is often a series of microthermocouples attached to a blackened platinum disc. The
radiation is absorbed by the disc, which heats up, and results in an emf developed by the
thermocouples. The advantage of such a detector is that it responds to visible and IR
radiation with little regard to wavelength.
IR Pyrometer Another popular version of the broadband pyrometer is one that is mostly
sensitive to IR wavelengths. This device often uses a lens formed from silicon or germanium
to focus the IR radiation on a suitable detector

Applications As the technology of IR pyrometers has advanced, these devices have

experienced a vast growth in industrial applications. Some applications are as follows:
1. Metal production facilities In the numerous industries associated with the production
and working of metals, temperatures in excess of 500C are common. Contact
temperature measurement elements usually have a very limited lifetime. With
broadband pyrometers, however, a noncontact measurement can be made and the
result converted into a process-control loop signal.
2. Glass industries Another area where high temperatures must be controlled is in the
production, working, and annealing of glasses. The broadband pyrometers find ready
application in process control loop situations. In carefully designed control systems,
glass furnace temperatures have been regulated to within 01K.
3. Semiconductor processes The extensive use of semiconductor materials in
electronics has resulted in a need for carefully regulated, high-temperature processes
producing pure crystals. In these applications, the pyrometer measurements are used
to regulate induction heating equipment, crystal pull rates, and other related
parameters. As the accuracy of IR pyrometers is improved in the temperature ranges
below 500 K, many applications that have historically used contact measurements
will change to IR pyrometers.

4.3 Narrowband Pyrometers

Another class of pyrometer depends on the variation in monochromatic radiation
energy
emission with temperature. These devices often are called optical pyrometers because they
generally involve wavelengths only in the visible part of the spectrum.

The
system is focused on the object whose temperature is to be determined, and the filter picks
out only the desired wavelength, which is usually in the red. The viewer also sees the
platinum filament superimposed on an image of the object. At low heating, the filament
appears dark against the background object, as in Figure 27a. As the filament is heated, it
eventually appears as a bright filament against the background object, as in Figure 27c.
Somewhere in between is the point when the brightness of the filament and the measured
object match. At this setting, the filament disappears with respect to the background object,
and the object temperature is read from the filament heating dial.

OPTICAL SOURCES

One limitation in the application of EM radiation devices to process control has been the lack
of convenient characteristics of available optical sources. The development of sources
relying on light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (LASER) has provided EM
radiation sources having good characteristics for application to process-control
measurement. In this section, we will consider the general characteristics of both
conventional and laser light sources and their applications to measurement
problems. Our discussion is confined to sources in the visible or IR wavelength bands
although it should be noted that many applications exist in other regions of the EM radiation
spectrum.

5.1 Conventional Light Sources

Incandescent Sources
Acommon light source is based on the principle of thermal radiation discussed in Section 4.
Thus, if a fine current-carrying wire is heated to a very high temperature b y I 2R losses, it
emits considerable EM radiation in the visible band. A standard lamp is an example of this
type of source, as are flashlight lamps, automobile headlights, and so on. Because the light
is distributed in a very broad wavelength spectrum
(see Figure 23), it clearly is not monochromatic

inefficient for visible-light production. Yet this source has been a workhorse for lighting for
many years. It is most deserving, but for use as a measurement transducer, its limitations
are severely restrictive.
Atomic Sources
The light sources that provide the red neon signs used in advertising and the familiar
fluorescent lighting are examples of another type of light source. Such light sources are
atomic in that they depend on rearrangements of electrons within atoms of the material

from which the light originates. Figure 28 shows a schematic representation of an atom with
the nucleus and associated electrons. Thus, the light is nearly monochromatic, although light
of other wavelengths representing different de-excitation modes is still present. In a
fluorescent light, a two-step process occurs. The initial de-excitation produces light
predominantly in the ultraviolet (UV) part of the spectrum that is absorbed on an inner
coating of the bulb. Electrons of atoms in the coating material are excited by UV radiation
and then de-excited by many levels of transitions, producing radiation of a broad band of
wavelengths in the visible region. Thus, the radiation emitted is polychromatic. The radiation
in these sources is also divergent and incoherent.

Fluorescence Certain materials exhibit a peculiar characteristic with regard to the deexcitation transition time of electrons; that is, a transition may take much longer on the
average than the normal 10-8 s. In some cases, the average transition time may be even
hours or days. Such levels are called long-lived states and show up in materials that
fluoresce or glow in the dark following exposure to an intense light source.

5.2 Laser Principles

Stimulation Emission
The basic operation of the laser depends on a principle
formulated by Albert Einstein regarding the emission of radiation by excited atoms. He found
that if several atoms in a material are excited to the same level and one of the atoms emits
its radiation before the others, then the passage of this radiation by such excited atoms can
also stimulate them to de-excite. It is significant that when stimulated to de-excite, the
emitted radiation will be inphase and in the same direction as the stimulating radiation. This
effect is shown in Figure 30, where atom a emits radiation spontaneously.

Laser Structure The majority of excited atoms are quickly de-excited in this fashion. If
mirror is only 60% reflecting, some of this pulse in each reflection will be passed. The overall
result is that, following excitation, a pulse of light emerges from that is monochromatic,
coherent, and has very little divergence. This system can also be made to operate
continuously by providing a continuous excitation of the atoms to replenish those de-excited
by stimulated emission.
Properties of Laser Light The light that comes from the laser is characterized by the
following properties:
1. Monochromatic
2. 2. Coherent
3. 3. Divergence
4. 4. Power

APPLICATIONS
6.1 Label Inspection
In many manufacturing processes, a large number of items are produced in batch runs
where an automatic process attaches labels to the items. Inevitably, some items are either
missing labels or have the labels incorrectly attached. The system in Figure 32 examinesthe
presence and alignment of labels on boxes moving on a conveyor belt system

6.2 Turbidity
One of the many characteristics of liquids involved in process industries is called turbidity.
Turbidity refers to the lack of clarity of a liquid, which can be caused by suspended
particulate material. Turbidity can be an indication of a problematic condition because of
impurities or improperly dissolved products. It also can be intentional as, for example, when
some material is suspended in a liquid for ease of transport through pipes. Turbidity can be
measured optically because it affects the propagation of light through the liquid

6.3 Ranging
The development of the laser and fast (small ) photodetectors has introduced a number of
methods for measuring distances and the rate of travel of objects by noncontact means.
Distances can be measured by measuring the time of flight of light pulses scattered off a
distant object. Because the speed of light is constant, we use a simple equation to find
distance, providing the time of flight, T, is known. Thus, if a pulse of light is directed at a
distant object and the reflection is detected a time T later, then the distance is

This ranging method can be employed for measuring shorter distances limited by time
measurement capability and to detecting the reflected signal for longer distances. Surveying
instruments for measuring distance have been developed by this method.