Students’ name:

 Breneș Ioan-Alexandru
 Iov Mircea
 Greculescu Mihai Cosmin
 Fofircă Ionuț
 Boricean Ovidiu

Infrared technology

Abstract
The aim of this paper is discussing general aspects about the infrared technology.
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in the
spectral band between microwaves and visible light (the nominal red edge of the visible
spectrum). It is invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths
from around 750 nm to 1000 μm

Infrared shares some characteristics with visible light, however. Like visible light,
infrared light can be focused, reflected and polarized. Infrared is typically subdivided into
multiple spectral regions, or bands, based on wavelength. However, there is no uniform
definition of each band's exact boundaries.

Key-words: Infrared, electromagnetic radiation, spectral band, light, microwaves, wavelengths

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1. Introduction

Short history

It was long known that fires emit invisible heat; in 1681 the pioneering experimenter
Edme Mariotte showed that glass, though transparent to sunlight, obstructed radiant heat.

Later, in 1800, the astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered the infrared radiation.
Herschel knew sunlight could separate into components, which occurs when light refracts
through a glass prism. He then measured the temperatures of the different colors created.
Herschel found the temperature increased as the colors progressed from violet all the way to red
light. Herschel then went a step further and measured the temperature in the portion beyond the
red area. There, in the infrared area, he found the temperature was the highest of all.

2. The principle

All everyday objects emit thermal energy—even ice cubes. The hotter an object is, the
more thermal energy it emits. The energy emitted by an object is referred to as the object’s
thermal or heat signature. Two objects side by side can have different thermal signatures.

An animal, motor, or machine, for example, generates its own heat, either biologically or
mechanically. Objects like soil, rocks, and plants absorb heat from the sun during the day and
release it at night. Given that different materials absorb and release thermal energy at different
speeds, an area whose temperature appears to be uniform is actually made up of a mosaic of
different temperatures.

3. Wavelength and frequency

Infrared is commonly separated into near-infrared, mid-infrared and far-infrared. It can

also divide into the following five categories:

 Near-infrared
 Mid-infrared
 Far-infrared

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3.1. Near-infrared

The near-IR band contains the range of wavelengths closest to the red end of the visible
light spectrum. Near-IR consists of wavelengths that range from 700 nanometers (nm) to 1,300
nm. Its frequency ranges from about 215 THz to 400 THz. NIR spectroscopy can be used for
product identification, classification and quality control, as well as for the determination of
product properties (chemical and physical) and component concentrations in process
applications, all with the object of rapid analysis.

3.2. Mid-Infrared

Mid-IR covers wavelengths that range from 1,300 nm to 3,000 nm. Frequencies range
from 20 THz to 215 THz. The mid-infrared spectral region is particularly important for optical
spectroscopy, since it contains many absorption lines which are characteristic for certain
molecules. In particular, that applies to the “fingerprint region” with wavelengths between 7 μm
and 11 μm.

3.3. Far-infrared

Wavelengths in the far-IR band, which are closest to microwaves, extend from 3,000 nm
to 1 mm. Frequencies range from 0.3 THz to 20 THz. This group consists of the shortest
wavelengths and longest frequencies, and it produces the most heat.

Far-IR reduces soreness on nerve endings and muscle spasms by warming muscle fibers.
As a result, rapid reduction of swelling, inflammation, and pain occurs.

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4. Uses of the infrared technology

4.1. Night vision

Infrared is used in night vision equipment when there is insufficient visible light to see.
Night vision devices operate through a process involving the conversion of ambient light photons
into electrons that are then amplified by a chemical and electrical process and then converted
back into visible light. Infrared light sources can be used to augment the available ambient light
for conversion by night vision devices, increasing in-the-dark visibility without actually using a
visible light source.

Figure 1. Night vision glasses Figure 2. Environment seen through night

vison glasses

4.2. Thermography
Infrared radiation can be used to remotely determine the temperature of objects (if the
emissivity is known). This is termed thermography, or in the case of very hot objects in the near-
IR or visible it is termed pyrometry. Thermography (thermal imaging) is mainly used in military
and industrial applications but the technology is reaching the public market in the form of
infrared cameras on cars due to greatly reduced production costs.

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4.3. Tracking
Infrared tracking, also known as infrared homing, refers to a passive missile guidance
system, which uses the emission from a target of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared part of
the spectrum to track it. Missiles that use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers"
since infrared (IR) is just below the visible spectrum of light in frequency and is radiated
strongly by hot bodies. Many objects such as people, vehicle engines, and aircraft generate and
retain heat, and as such, are especially visible in the infrared wavelengths of light compared to
objects in the background.

Figure 5. A modern German Air Force infrared homing air-to-air missile

4.4.
Meteorology

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 Weather satellites equipped with scanning radiometers produce thermal or infrared
images, which can then enable a trained analyst to determine cloud heights and types, to
calculate land and surface water temperatures, and to locate ocean surface features.

Clouds with high and cold tops, such as cyclones or cumulonimbus clouds, are often
displayed as red or black, lower warmer clouds such as stratus or stratocumulus are displayed as
blue or grey, with intermediate clouds shaded accordingly. Hot land surfaces are shown as dark-
grey or black. One disadvantage of infrared imagery is that low cloud such as stratus or fog can
have a temperature similar to the surrounding land or sea surface and does not show up.

Figure 6. Satellite infrared image of a

cyclone

4.5. Astronomy
Astronomers observe objects in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
using optical components, including mirrors, lenses and solid state digital detectors. For this
reason it is classified as part of optical astronomy. To form an image, the components of an
infrared telescope need to be carefully shielded from heat sources, and the detectors are chilled
using liquid helium. The sensitivity of Earth-based infrared telescopes is significantly limited by

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water vapor in the atmosphere, which absorbs a portion of the infrared radiation arriving from
space outside of selected atmospheric windows. This limitation can be partially alleviated by
placing the telescope observatory at a high altitude, or by carrying the telescope aloft with a
balloon or an aircraft. Space telescopes do not suffer from this handicap, and so outer space is
considered the ideal location for infrared astronomy.

Figure 7. The infrared view of Jupiter

5. Conclusion
In conclusion, infrared or infrared light is an electromagnetic radiation used from
detecting different bodies based on the heat emitted, to guiding missiles and seeing in the dark.
That is why it has a place at the table of several fields, from the medical service to the military
and astronomy.

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Webography

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared
 https://mapsted.com/blog/infrared-technology-explained
 https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves/
 https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/09/12/this-army-unit-will-be-the-
first-to-get-the-new-enhanced-night-vision-goggle-binocular/
 https://www.lynred.com/blog/five-things-you-need-know-about-infrared-technology
 https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/infrared-radiation