Non Destructive Inspection by Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy

An important factor of monitoring processes, testing parts which have been in service for extended times, or performing intelligence on new materials from other countries is identification of material composition and internal structure. A common approach to this task involves destructive testing in which the object under test is taken apart and analyzed to reveal internal structure and material composition. Ultrasound, X-ray, or other similar forms of testing can provide internal structure, but do not identify material composition. Also, such techniques cannot be used for remote identification. All materials, however, posses relatively unique spectral reflectances, emittances, and transmittances. Internal structure gives rise to similarly unique spatially varying heat capacities and thermal conductivities. These parameters together give rise to unique, spatially varying spectral radiances which properly exploited can be used both to identify material composition and internal structure. An instrument designed to exploit spectral radiances would be an invaluable tool for non-destructive test and identification. Proposed is a development effort aimed at developing an instrument capable of collecting high spectral resolution images, nominally from about 3 microns to about 12 microns, but potentially down to about 0.35 microns. These images, comprising 256 x 256 spatial pixels, are collected at 600 frames per second, calibrated and processed in real-time with massively powerful yet extremely compact electronics to elicit material composition and structural integrity.