Defence Technology 16 (2020) 401e407

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Defence Technology
journal homepage: www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/defence-technology

Performance evaluation and optimization design of photoelectric

pyrometer detection optical system
Xue-yan Han, Ke-wei Huan*, Shan-ju Sheng
School of Science, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The measurement and control of high temperature play very important roles in national defense, mili-
Received 19 April 2019 tary, scientific experiments, industrial and agricultural production. Photoelectric pyrometer is one of the
Received in revised form important radiation thermometers for non-contact temperature measurement. It has an important
5 July 2019
application in the field of high temperature measurement, and its performance directly affects the ac-
Accepted 29 July 2019
curacy of temperature measurement. By improving the design of the detection optical system of the
Available online 29 July 2019
photoelectric pyrometer, the imaging performance of the photoelectric pyrometer can be improved
effectively, and the temperature measurement accuracy can be improved. In this paper, the temperature
Keywords:
Photoelectric pyrometer
measurement principle of photoelectric pyrometer, the working principle of the detection optical system
Detection optical system and the composition of the system are introduced. The optical components that affect the imaging of the
ZEMAX optical system of the photoelectric pyrometer are analyzed. The optical pyrometer detection optical
MTF system is simulated by ZEMAX software, based on the analysis results, the Modulation Transfer Function
Spot diagram (MTF) and the spot Diagram are used as the main evaluation criteria to optimize the design of the
objective lens of the photoelectric pyrometer detection optical system. The imaging performance of the
photoelectric pyrometer detection optical system and the accuracy of temperature measurement of the
photoelectric pyrometer are improved by optimization design of the detection optical system.
© 2020 China Ordnance Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi
Communications Co. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction method is divided into contact temperature measurement and

Temperature is one of the seven basic quantities in the Inter-
national System of Units. Its measurement and control play very
important roles in national defense, military, scientific experi-
ments, industrial and agricultural production. With the advance-
ment of science and technology, various types of radiation
thermometers have been widely used in the fields of national de-
fense, construction, electric power, electronics and metallurgy.
Radiation measuring instruments promote the progress of scientific
research and industry, and the urgent need for radiation ther-
mometers is also driving the research of radiation thermometers
[1,2]. High temperature measurement plays an important role in
the industrial defense field of materials, energy, aerospace, metal-
lurgy, machinery manufacturing, etc. [3]. With the development of
technology, the accuracy of radiation thermometer [4e6] is
continuously improved, and the temperature measurement
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: huankewei@126.com (K.-w. Huan).
Peer review under responsibility of China Ordnance Society
non-contact temperature measurement [7]. The radiation ther-
mometer has a wide measuring range and can respond quickly
without touching the object to be measured [8]. There are many
types of radiation thermometers, such as photoelectric pyrometers,
optical pyrometers, total radiation thermometers, colorimetric
thermometers, fiber optic thermometers, infrared radiation ther-
mometers, etc. [9]. Photoelectric pyrometer is one of the important
radiation thermometers for non-contact temperature measure-
ment. It can be used as standard instrument in the high tempera-
ture range of 900e2500
C [10] Based on the temperature
measurement principle of the photoelectric pyrometer, the work-
ing principle of the optical system and the current structure of the
photoelectric pyrometer, the influence of lens and other optical
elements on the performance of the detection optical system was
analyzed, and ZEMAX software was used to simulate and optimize
the design of the optical system of the photoelectric pyrometer. The
MTF function and the Spot Diagram are used as the main evaluation
parameters to analyze the imaging performance of some compo-
nents of the detection optical system. By changing the structure of
the objective lens to improve the design of the optical system of the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2019.07.019
2214-9147/© 2020 China Ordnance Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-
ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
402 X.-y. Han et al. / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 401e407
photoelectric pyrometer. Finally, the temperature measurement
accuracy of photoelectric pyrometer is improved.
2. The working principle of photoelectric pyrometer
temperature measurement and detection optical system
2.1. The principle of temperature measurement
Photoelectric pyrometer is part of the brightness thermometer
in the radiation thermometer. The brightness thermometer is based
on Planck's law to determine the brightness of the object at a
certain wavelength, brightness temperature is obtained by the
brightness, and calculates the true temperature using a specific
formula [5].
Planck's law of blackbody radiation describes the relationship
between the spectral radiance L of a blackbody and the temperature
T and wavelength as in Eq. (1):
c1 c
Lðl; TÞ ¼ l5 ½expð 2 Þ  11
p lT
where: L (l, T) is the spectral radiance of the black body;
c1, c2 are the first and second radiation constants;
l is the wavelength in vacuum;
T is the temperature of the measured black body.
Temperature of the ITS-90 international temperature scale to
the temperature range above 961.78
C:
Lðl; T90 Þ expðlT c2ðxÞÞ  1
¼ 90
Lðl; T90 ðxÞÞ expðlcT2 Þ  1
90
It can be seen from Eq. (2), wavelength is an important factor
affecting the temperature scale recurrence, minor deviations can
also have a large impact on the calculation of spectral responsivity
measurements. Therefore, in order to measure the spectral
responsivity of the photoelectric pyrometer more accurately and
reduce the uncertainty of the effective wavelength in the trans-
mission of high temperature quantity, it is necessary to accurately
calibrate the wavelength of the grating monochromator before the
spectral responsivity test.
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of radiant temperature meter optical system.
Table 1
Objective optical component parameters.
Mirror Vertex radius of curvature/mm
1 112.21
2 95.94
3 325.10
Fig. 2. Objective MTF curve.
(1)
2.2. The working principle and composition of photoelectric
pyrometer detection optical system
Optical imaging systems, monochromators, photodetectors, and
current amplifiers are the basic components of standard radiation
thermometers. The optical system diagram is shown in Fig. 1. The
working principle can be simply summarized as follows: the
measured object is imaged by the movable objective lens in the
field of view, the center of the field diaphragm is a circular hole, and
the surrounding is a mirror for aiming. The measured object is
imaged on the circular hole, and then the measured object is
(2) divided into measuring light path and aiming light path. Detection
optical system: The target radiation converges on the photodetec-
tors passes through the center hole of the field diaphragm, the
aperture stop, the condenser lens, and the interference filter.
Aiming optical system: The image of the measured object is re-
flected by the field of view and the mirror, and it imaged in the
observer's eye through objective lens and the eyepiece [11].
3. Structural design and performance analysis of
photoelectric pyrometer detection optical system
The detection optical system is a key component of the py-
rometer to achieve precise temperature measurement [12e14]. The
optical system directly determines the measurement accuracy of
the photoelectric thermometer. The spectral responsivity is mainly
related to the filter and the detector. The size effect of the radiation
source is mainly caused by the reflection between optoelectronic
pyrometer lenses, the phase difference and diffraction of the optical
system, the dust in the optical component and the optical system,
etc. [15e17]. The distance effect of the photoelectric pyrometer is
mainly related to the energy distribution on the detector. The in-
fluence of spectral responsivity and radiation source size on the
performance evaluation parameters of photoelectric pyrometer is
related to the structure of detecting optical system. The detection
optical system of the pyrometer consists of an objective lens, a field
diaphragm, a converging lens, a filter and a detector. The
Spacing/thickness/mm Passage aperture/mm Mechanical caliber/mm
8.20 f46 f51
5.00 f46 f51
144.3 f45 f51
 X.-y. Han et al. / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 401e407 403

Fig. 3. Objective lens imaging.

Fig. 5. MTF curve of 700 mm field of view pupil.

Table 1):

(1) The wavelength segment: 0.7066e1.016 mm, the center

wavelength: 0.855 mm;
(2) Image distance: Infinity;
(3) Field of view: 0
;
(4) Focal length: 151.42 mm;
(5) Entry diameter: f45.75 mm.

According to the selected the parameters of double cemented

Fig. 4. Objective image point spread function.
photoelectric pyrometer detection optical system is designed by
ZEMAX software, and the imaging performance of each part is
analyzed, which is an important basis for the design and
improvement of the pyrometer optical system.
3.1. Objective lens simulation analysis
The radiation thermometer objective lens adopts double adhe-
sive lens, whose performance parameters are as follows (see
lens, the MTF and the diffuse radius were analyzed by ZEMAX
software to evaluate the imaging performance of the objective lens.
The MTF curve of the objective lens imaging is shown in Fig. 2.
As can be seen from Fig. 2, the imaging of the objective lens on the
on-axis field of view (0
) is very poor. When the system field of
view is increased, the off-axis field of view aberration increases and
the optical system imaging performance become worse.
The imaging diffuse spot distribution at the focal plane after the
objective lens converge the light is shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen
that the radius of the Airy image of the objective lens is 3.433 mm,
and the root mean square radius of the speckle after the objective
imaging is 49.879 mm, which is much larger than Airy spot radius
value.
The point diffusion function of the objective lens is shown in
Fig. 4. The relative irradiance peak of point diffusion function is only
0.05.

Table 2
Objective optical component parameters.

Optical element Vertex radius of curvature/mm Thickness/pi-tch/mm Mechanical caliber/mm

Objective lens Double cemented lens 112.22 8.20 f51.0

95.94 5.00 f51.0
325.10 185.15 f51.0
Field of view Small hole e 32.00 f0.5
Focusing lens Single lens ∞ 2.50 f10.0
10.18 18.50 f10.0
Aperture stop Light hole ∞ 18.00 f3.0
Filter Plate glass ∞ 2.00 f10.0
∞ 5.50 f10.0
Detector Detector e e 2.4  2.4
404 X.-y. Han et al. / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 401e407
Fig. 6. Object distance 700 mm field of view pupil point map.
3.2. The design of detection optical system
The optical system of photoelectric pyrometer consists of
objective lens, field diaphragm, aperture diaphragm, measuring
concentrator lens, filter and detector. The optical system of pho-
toelectric pyrometer is designed, and the parameters and positions
of each optical element are determined. The imaging performance
of the optical element (measuring convergent lens) without defi-
nite parameters and the imaging performance of energy detection
optical path are analyzed.
3.2.1. The parameters of detecting optical system performance
According to the working principle and imaging process of the
radiation thermometer, the energy detection optical path needs to
satisfy the following imaging performance:
(1) Spectral segment: center wavelength: 0.855 mm, imaging
bandwidth: 30 nm (determined by filter performance);
(2) Working distance: 500e1000 mm;
(3) Inlet diameter: f46 mm;
(4) Imaging range: always fill the center of the field diaphragm.
Fig. 7. Point-to-point map of 700 mm detector.
Fig. 8. Optical system design.
3.2.2. The structural parameters of detection optical system
The energy detection optical path design object distance range
is 500e1000 mm. By adjusting the position of objective lens along
the direction of optical axis, the measured target is always filled
with the field of view pupil. The component parameters are shown
in Table 2. If the working state of the object distance 700 mm is
used as the reference position of the detection optical system, the
objective lens needs more adjustment amount if the object distance
becomes shorter than when the object distance becomes longer.
3.2.3. Imaging performance analysis of detection optical system
According to the working principle of the photoelectric py-
rometer, field diaphragm should be placed at the focal plane of the
objective lens in theory. It is necessary to analyze the image quality
of the objective at the actual field stop position, which is currently
measured.
3.2.3.1. Analysis of imaging performance at the field diaphragm
(1). MTF
When the object distance is 700 mm, the modulation transfer
function (MTF) can reflect the comprehensive imaging perfor-
mance of the optical lens. The MTF curve of the objective lens at the
field stop position is shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen that the image
quality at the field stop is poor.
(2). Diffuse spot
When the object distance is 700 mm, the distribution of the
imaged diffuse spot at the optical field of the objective lens is as
shown in Fig. 6. As shown in the figure, the radius of the Airy image
of the objective lens is 4.55 mm, and the square root radius of the
speckle at the field diaphragm is more than 72 mm, which is much
larger than the Airy disk radius.
3.2.3.2. Imaging performance analysis at the detector
(1). Diffuse spot
At the detector, the distribution of the diffuse spot in the
different imaging fields of the detection optical system is shown in
Fig. 7. The radius of the Airy disk is 5.193 mm. As can be seen from
the figure below, the radius of the root mean square of the field of
view of the detector is about 277.3 mm, much larger than the Airy
disk radius value.
Fig. 9. Optimized objective lens structure.
 X.-y. Han et al. / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 401e407 405

(2). The light distribution of the detector

When the working object distance is 700 mm, the area where
the detector can receive energy is about 0.66 mm  0.997 mm.

4. Improved design of optical path for optical pyrometer

detection optical system

Through the above analysis, the objective lens is a key part

affecting the imaging quality of the entire optical system. The im-
aging quality of the optical path can be improved by optimizing the
structure of the objective lens and adding the collimating lens and
focusing lens. The optimized design of the photoelectric pyrometer
detecting optical path system is shown in Fig. 8. The objective lens
(1) converges the radiant energy at the field stop (2), and the
radiating energy through the field diaphragm is emitted by colli-
mating mirror (3), the pupil (4) of the collimating mirror is placed
at the exit position of the mirror (3), and finally the radiant energy
is concentrated by the focusing mirror (5) to the detector (6).
The objective lens is in the form of two sets of double cemented
lenses as shown in Fig. 9. The working distance of the objective lens
is 700e1500 mm, the focal length is about 147.6 mm, and the
aperture is f51 mm. The image quality of the objective lens can be
clearly identified at different working distances.
The type of collimating lens depends on the aberration re-
quirements, and can be used with a simple monolithic lens, such as
a Plano-convex or lenticular lens. These lenses allow for a larger
relative aperture. Double-glued lenses can also be used, and the
relative aperture is also appropriately reduced. The MTF curve of
the objective lens collimator at different working distances is
shown in Fig. 10. It can be seen that the resolution is very high, and
the MTF curve almost coincides with the diffraction limit, and the
image quality is good.
The structure of objective lens, collimating mirror,and focusing
mirror in the detection optical system is shown in Fig. 11. The
focusing mirror in the optical system improves the ability of the
edge beam to be incident on the detector. In the same main optical
system, the additional field lens will reduce the area of the detector,
if the same detector area is used, the field of view can be enlarged
and the incident flux can be increased, the non-uniform illumina-
tion on the photosensitive surface of the detector is homogenized.
When the focal length of the focusing lens is 72 mm and the
working distance is 700 mm, the total length between the front
surface of the objective lens and the focal plane of the focusing
mirror is 385.2 mm.
The MTF curves of the objective lens, the collimating mirror and
the focusing mirror at different working distances are shown in
Fig. 12. It can be seen that when the energy detecting optical path
uses this design scheme, the imaging effect is better than before the
improvement.
The point map of the energy detecting optical path at different
object distances is shown in Fig. 13. It can be seen that the imaging
diffused spots of different fields of view of the system are close to

Fig. 10. Objective lens collimator MTF curve.

Fig. 11. Objective lens, collimating mirror, focusing mirror light path diagram.
406 X.-y. Han et al. / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 401e407

Fig. 13. Energy detection optical path at different point distances.

the Airy disk of the system.

Fig. 12. Objective lens, collimating mirror, focusing mirror MTF curve.
In summary, using two sets of double-glued lenses to optimize
the detection optical system of photoelectric pyrometers after
design, the MTF function is close to the diffraction limit, and the
diffuse spot is close to the system's Airy plaque, which is well
imaged and meets the design requirements.
 X.-y. Han et al. / Defence Technology 16 (2020) 401e407
5. Conclusion
The imaging performance of photoelectric pyrometer detecting
optical system is an important factor affecting the temperature
measurement of photoelectric pyrometer. Based on the structure of
the optical system of the radiation thermometer and the parame-
ters of the optical elements, this paper analyzes the main problems
existing in the optical system of the photoelectric pyrometer, and
optimizes the design and evaluation of the objective lens of the
optical system of the photoelectric pyrometer. When the object
distance of the original photoelectric pyrometer is 700 mm, at the
detector, the Airy radius is 5.193 mm, and the RMS radius of each
field of view is about 277 mm, which is much larger than the Airy
radius. After the optical system of the photoelectric pyrometer is
improved, when the object distance of the detecting optical system
is 700 mm, the Airy radius of the objective lens imaging is 10.35 mm,
and the RMS radius of each field of view is between 7.12 and
8.242 mm; When the object distance of the detecting optical system
is 1100 mm, the Airy radius of the objective lens imaging is
9.585 mm, and the RMS radius of each field of view is between
8.8912 and 11.195 mm; When the object distance of the detecting
optical system is 1500 mm, the Airy radius of the objective lens
imaging is 9.262 mm, and the RMS radius of each field of view is
between 11.345 and 13.974 mm. After the detection optical system is
improved, the RMS radius of each of each field of view are close to
the Airy radius of the system. The MTF function of the improved
objective lens is close to the diffraction limit at different distances,
and the area between the curve and the coordinate axis increases
significantly. The data show that after improving the detection
optical system, the imaging quality of the system is significantly
improved, which improves the imaging performance of the pho-
toelectric pyrometer, and improves the design level and detection
quality of the independently developed photoelectric pyrometer.
Foundation item
Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan Project
407
(20190701024GH).
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