Size-of-Source Effect Sensitivities in Radiometers

Abstract

When performing high accuracy radiation thermometry, the size-of-source effect (SSE) of a radiometer can provide a significant contribution to the uncertainties associated with the measurements. During the development of a new radiometer designed specifically to measure the melting points of high-temperature fixed-point cells, indirect SSE measurements were performed on a prototype instrument to aid selection of optical components and their optimum positions with the aim of minimizing its SSE. As the radiometer’s objective lens can produce much of the scattered light that contributes to the SSE, a set of objective lenses was compared and found to have SSEs between \(7\times 10^{-4}\) and \({<}6\times 10^{-5}\). Further improvements were found by controlling the positioning and size of the stray light reducing Lyot stop. The diameter of the Lyot stop had to be set carefully: too small a diameter and it provides a low SSE but reduces the instrument’s signal from the source; too large a diameter and it provides little or no reduction in the SSE. The sensitivities in the Lyot stop and collimating lens positions were tested, and the instrument’s SSE was found to be tolerant of small displacements of either the lens or Lyot stop, however, larger movements yielded an increase in the SSE. The extremes in position increased the SSE to \(3\times 10^{-4}\) for the collimating lens and \(4\times 10^{-4}\) for the Lyot stop.