ABSTRACT
The chapter is divided into two main parts: detectors and experimental setup. When experimental investigations are required such as for thermographic inspection, instrumentation is obviously essential. Optical receivers are really the heart of IR systems. The worldwide IR detector market is now estimated to be close to 2 billion dollars with a 30% per year rate of increase. For photoemissive photonic detectors, the signal observed is derived from measurement of the electron flow pulled away from the photocathode under the effect of both the incident photons and a static polarization. In photomultiplier tubes electrons are accelerated and multiplied by secondary emission using internal plates called dynodes. Back in the 1960s the first successful infrared commercial products based on pyroelectric detectors were produced. In the 1970s a new kind of imaging device revolutionized the infrared community: large-dimensional infrared arrays which simplified infrared camera construction.
