title: An Improved-Efficiency Compact Lamp for the Thermal Infrared.
abstract: A major type of infrared camera is sensitive to wavelengths in the 8-14 μm band and is mainly used for thermal imaging. Such cameras can also be used for general broadband infrared reflectance imaging when provided with a suitable light source. We report the design and properties of an infrared lamp using a heated alumina emitter suitable for active thermal infrared imaging, as well as comparisons to existing commercial light sources for this purpose. We find that the alumina lamp is a broadband non-blackbody source with a lower out-of-band emission intensity and therefore higher electrical efficiency for this application than existing commercial sources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 USA.
authors.forename: Wayne L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Nicholas D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Boltin
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: DeJong
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Brianna M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Cassidy
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Myrick