Emissivity of condensed substances from their thermal radiation spectra

Abstract

A technique for measuring the temperature and spectral emissivity of condensed substances is described. With this technique, measurements can be made in any spectral range, rather than only at short wavelengths, where the Wien approximation for the Planck formula holds. In particular, in the spectral range around the peak-emission wavelength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio can typically be attained, which raises the accuracy in temperature and emissivity determination. The proposed approach to processing the experimental emissivity curves offers the possibility of analyzing the effects of the major factors (signal-to-noise ratio, spectral range of measurements, type of the model function representing the spectral emissivity, and others) on the accuracy in temperature measurements. The potentialities of the technique are demonstrated by measuring the temperatures and emissivities of W, Re, and Ta strip lamps in the spectral range 0.9 to 2.1 Μm.