Temperature sensors, phosphor-based

Phosphor-based temperature sensors are adaptable to the needs for a wide variety of situations and are based on fluorescence material properties. The thermal dependence of fluorescence may be exploited to provide a noncontact, emissivity-independent optical alternative to other more conventional techniques, such as those employing pyrometry, thermocouples, or thermistors. In fact, there are certain situations where fluorescence-based thermometry is the only useful approach, such as in devices like turbines or engines. 

Notwithstanding the excellent analytical features inherent in molecular phosphorimetric measurements, their use has been impeded by the need for cumbersome cryogenic temperature techniques. The ability to stabilize the "triplet state" at room temperature by immobilization of the phosphor on a solid support [69,70] or in a liquid solution using an "ordered medium" [71] has opened new avenues for phosphorescence studies and analytical phosphorimetry. Room-temperature phosphorescence (RTF) has so far been used for the determination of trace amounts of many organic compounds of biochemical interest [69,72]. Retention of the phosphorescent species on a solid support housed in a flow-cell is an excellent way of "anchoring" it in order to avoid radiationless deactivation. A configuration such as that shown in Fig. 2.13.4 was used to implement a sensor based on this principle in order to determine aluminium in clinical samples (dialysis fluids and concen-... 

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