Abstract

A new laser-based technique for measuring spatially resolved 2-D temperature fields in heated air is described. The method employs short pulses of light from an argon-fluoride excimer laser to excite several rotational transitions in overlapping vibrational bands of the Schumann-Runge (B³Σu⁻ ←X³Σ_g⁻) system of O₂, thereby producing bursts of fluorescence emission which are dependent on the local temperature of the gas mixture. By utilizing sheet illumination and collecting the fluorescence with an intensified photodiode array at right angles to the excitation path, measurements of the fluorescence intensity can be made simultaneously at a large number of flow-field points. These intensities can be simply converted to images of the flow-temperature field.

© 1986 Optical Society of America