Temperature measurements with uranyl glass

Abstract

A preliminary study was completed to determine if uranyl glass could be used as an optical thermometer. Absorption and fluorescence measurements were made as a function of temperature for temperatures ranging from room temperature to approximately 500°C. It was observed that the absorption decreases linearly with increasing temperature. A temperature scale was established for the absorption for the specific setup but it was determined that improvements in the setup need to be made in order to provide measurements that are more useful and repeatable. Each setup needs to be calibrated in order to determine the calibration constants. The fluorescence measurements did not demonstrate a linear relationship to temperature and therefore a temperature scale for fluorescence was not established. It was determined that the absorption is a better method to measure temperature optically using uranyl glass