Improved measurement precision in decay time-based phosphor thermometry

Abstract

This study comprises a continuation of the previous efforts of the authors to characterize different sources of errors in phosphor thermometry based on the determination of luminescence decays from thermographic phosphors. Whereas earlier investigations focused on point detectors utilizing different sensor technology, this work presents a comparison of four PMTs that are identical in terms of their product type. These detectors are supposedly identical, but the investigations revealed that their response is strictly individual. This study also shows a linear excitation energy dependence for the decay time of cadmium tungstate (CdWO4), the phosphor being used in this work. In addition, the potential influence of the intense and short fluorescence peak preceding the weaker and longer exponential decay in some phosphor materials was investigated using the electrical signal gating capability of the PMT. Finally, the evaluated decay time also appeared to be affected by the oscilloscope settings used when recording the phosphorescence signals. The presented results indicate that all operating parameters from the calibration measurement need to be rigorously reproduced in order to avoid systematic temperature errors in phosphor thermometry experiments that are based on reproducible measurements of the decay time. These results should be of more general interest also outside the phosphor community as the findings, presented herein, in principal concern all kinds of measurements that are dependent on reproducible measurements of signal shapes or time transients.