Development of a New InGaAs Radiation Thermometer at NMIJ

The first InGaAs radiation thermometer at NMIJ was developed more than ten years ago as a standard radiation thermometer operating from 150 to 1,100°C. Its size-of-source effect (SSE) was as large as 1% from 6 mm in diameter to 50 mm in diameter. The new thermometer has an SSE of 0.3%. The reason for the error in measuring the SSE of InGaAs thermometers was also found. The new thermometer at first suffered from nonlinearity and the distance effect (DE). These deficiencies arose from the misalignment of optics inside the thermometer and were solved by increasing the detector size from 1 mm in diameter to 2 mm in diameter. Unfortunately, the detector of 2 mm diameter had a smaller S/N ratio than that of the 1 mm one at the indium (In) point. The final design uses a detector of 1 mm diameter, but the radiation is focussed on a smaller area of the detector. The new thermometer is smaller and lighter than preceding designs and other standard InGaAs radiation thermometers. The temperature of the main part of the instrument, including the filter, the detector, and the preamplifier board, is controlled at 30°C. In addition to the calibration with the six fixed points of copper (Cu), silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), zinc (Zn), tin (Sn), and indium (In), the linearity from the In point to the Cu point, the SSE, the DE, and the spectral responsivity were measured.