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A temperature monitoring technique for collecting radiation intensity (blackbody emission) across a broad wavelength range. A solid state spectrometer (26) acquires spectra from a sample (10) in real time and resolves the spectra to a radiation intensity (I) versus wavelength (λ) curve. This curve i

A temperature monitoring technique for collecting radiation intensity (blackbody emission) across a broad wavelength range. A solid state spectrometer (26) acquires spectra from a sample (10) in real time and resolves the spectra to a radiation intensity (I) versus wavelength (λ) curve. This curve is fitted to Planck's equation using a non-linear least squares fitting analysis. The system can be configured to self-calibrate and then lock in an amplitude value (A) which is used in subsequent temperature measurements by fitting to the blackbody emission curve. Preferably, the spectrometer (26) is flat field corrected (36) in an initial step to counteract variations in the spectrometer response with wavelength.

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1. A method for calibrating a spaced non-contact temperature measurement device by observing thermally-emitted radiation from a sample, said method comprising the steps of: A. providing a spectrometer;B. providing a sample to be measured;C. heating the sample to an unknown self-calibration temperatu

1. A method for calibrating a spaced non-contact temperature measurement device by observing thermally-emitted radiation from a sample, said method comprising the steps of: A. providing a spectrometer;B. providing a sample to be measured;C. heating the sample to an unknown self-calibration temperature;D. acquiring wavelength-dependent spectra from the heated sample in the infrared (IR) portion of the spectrum with the spectrometer;E. providing a mathematical equation defining ideal blackbody spectral radiance (I) as a non-linear function of wavelength (λ) and temperature (T), the mathematical equation including an unsolved amplitude variable (A), whereby the mathematical equation expresses a unique ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) for any given temperature;F. selecting one ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) closely corresponding to the spectra data, the corresponding ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) being associated with an absolute temperature and an amplitude value (A);G. adopting the absolute temperature of the corresponding ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) for the unknown temperature of the sample; andH. storing the amplitude value (A);I. then making a new sample temperature measurement by the steps of: 1) acquiring new wavelength-dependent spectra from a heated sample in the infrared (IR) portion of the spectrum with the spectrometer;2) and calculating a new sample temperature by solving the mathematical equation using the newly acquired spectra and the stored amplitude value (A) as a known factor. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing a mathematical equation includes applying the formula: I⁡(λ,T)=A⁢2⁢hc2λ5⁢1ⅇhc/λ⁢⁢kB⁢T-1+C Where: I(λ,T)=spectral radiance as a function of wavelength and temperatureT=the temperature in Kelvinλ=the wavelengthA=the amplitude variable which is a product of the emissivity of the sample and a tooling factorh=Planck's constantc=the speed of lightkB=Boltzmann's constante=the base of the natural logarithm, andC=a constant offset or background. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of selecting one ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) closely corresponding to the spectra data includes fitting the spectra data to the mathematical equation using a non-linear least squares fitting calculation. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of calculating a new sample temperature occurs in substantially real-time with said step of acquiring new wavelength-dependent spectra. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing a spectrometer includes providing a solid state spectrometer. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of acquiring wavelength-dependent spectra includes collecting raw spectra and then correcting the raw spectra by a predetermined correction factor, and said step of acquiring new wavelength-dependent spectra includes collecting new raw spectra and then correcting the new raw spectra by the same predetermined correction factor. 7. The method of claim 6 further including the step of determining the predetermined correction factor by flat field adjusting the spectrometer prior to said step of acquiring spectra. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein said step of flat field adjusting the spectrometer includes receiving with the spectrometer a spectral radiance from a known blackbody reference source and then comparing the spectral radiance to the mathematical equation solved for the spectral radiance. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of heating the sample to an unknown self-calibration temperature includes heating the sample above 700° C. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of making a new sample temperature measurement includes re-measuring the same sample provided from step B. 11. A method for making precise non-contact temperature measurements of a sample based on its thermally-emitted radiation, said method comprising the steps of: A. providing a spectrometer;B. providing a sample to be measured;C. acquiring wavelength-dependent spectra from the heated sample in the infrared (IR) portion of the spectrum with the spectrometer;D. providing a mathematical equation defining ideal blackbody spectral radiance (I) as a non-linear function of wavelength (λ) and temperature (T), whereby the mathematical equation expresses a unique ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) for any given temperature;E. selecting one ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) closely corresponding to the spectra data, the corresponding ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) being associated with an absolute temperature;F. adopting the absolute temperature of the corresponding ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) for the unknown temperature of the sample; andG. prior to said selecting step, correcting the spectra by a predetermined correction factor to correct for any variations in the spectrometer response with wavelength. 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said step of correcting the spectra includes determining the predetermined correction factor by flat field adjusting the spectrometer prior to said step of acquiring spectra. 13. The method of claim 11 wherein said step of flat field adjusting the spectrometer includes receiving with the spectrometer a spectral radiance from a reference source and then comparing the spectral radiance to the mathematical equation solved for the spectral radiance. 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said step receiving a spectral radiance from a reference source includes receiving blackbody spectra from a known blackbody reference source. 15. The method of claim 11 wherein said step of providing a mathematical equation includes applying the formula: I⁡(λ,T)=A⁢2⁢hc2λ5⁢1ⅇhc/λ⁢⁢kB⁢T-1+C Where: I(λ,T)=spectral radiance as a function of wavelength and temperatureT=the temperature in Kelvinλ=the wavelengthA=the amplitude variable which is a product of the emissivity of the sample and a tooling factorh=Planck's constantc=the speed of lightkB=Boltzmann's constante=the base of the natural logarithm, andC=a constant offset or background. 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of selecting one ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) closely corresponding to the spectra data includes fitting the spectra data to the mathematical equation using a non-linear least squares fitting calculation. 17. The method of claim 15 further including making a new sample temperature measurement after said adopting step by acquiring new wavelength-dependent spectra from a heated sample in the infrared (IR) portion of the spectrum with the spectrometer and then correcting the new raw spectra by the same predetermined correction factor. 18. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of making a new sample temperature measurement includes calculating a new sample temperature by calculating the tooling factor (f(A)) using the mathematical equation and solving the mathematical equation using the calculated tooling factor (f(A)). 19. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of calculating a new sample temperature occurs in substantially real-time with said step of acquiring new wavelength-dependent spectra. 20. A method for making precise non-contact temperature measurements of a sample based on its thermally-emitted radiation, comprising the steps of: A. providing a solid state spectrometer;B. establishing a correction factor for the spectrometer by flat field adjusting;C. providing a sample to be measured;D. heating the sample to an unknown temperature;E. acquiring raw, wavelength-dependent, spectra from the heated sample in the IR portion of the spectrum with the spectrometer;F. correcting the raw spectra by the correction factor to produce corrected spectra data;G. providing a mathematical equation defining ideal blackbody spectral radiance (I) as a non-linear function of wavelength (λ) and temperature (T), the mathematical equation including an amplitude variable (A), whereby the mathematical equation expresses a unique ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) for any given temperature;H. comparing the corrected spectra data to the mathematical equation to find the best fit to one specific ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) associated with an absolute temperature and a specific amplitude value (A);I. adopting the absolute temperature of the best fit ideal blackbody spectral radiance curve I(λ,T) for the unknown temperature of the sample without knowing the value of A;J. storing the amplitude value (A);K. locking the stored amplitude value (A) into the mathematical equation;L. making at least one new sample temperature measurement by the steps of: 1) acquiring new wavelength-dependent spectra from a heated sample in the infrared (IR) portion of the spectrum with the spectrometer;2) correcting the new spectra by the correction factor; andM. calculating a new sample temperature by best fitting to the mathematical equation using the newly acquired spectra and the stored amplitude value (A) as a known factor.