Non-destructive, in-situ evaluation of water presence using thermal contrast and cooled detector

1. A system, comprising:

a light source positioned to transmit thermal radiation through a sample;

a lens assembly positioned to:

receive the thermal radiation transmitted through the sample; and

focus the transmitted thermal radiation onto a filter positioned between the lens assembly and a detector; and

a cooling subsystem thermally coupled to at least the filter and the detector to cool the filter and the detector to a temperature below a temperature of the sample.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the light source is a black body in thermal equilibrium, and wherein the thermal radiation is substantially uniform.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: aluminum, dull wrought iron, oxidized cast iron, cold-rolled steel, an oxidized alloy of 80 wt % Ni and 20 wt % Cr, platinum black, a chemically-etched nickel phosphorus alloy, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, and carbon soot.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the lens assembly comprises at least one objective lens.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the detector comprises a focal plane array.

6. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the detector comprises an infrared camera.

7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the filter comprises a bandpass filter.

8. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the filter is characterized by a blocking range from about 1.5 μm to about 5 μm, wherein within the blocking range the filter transmits less than about 1% of at least portions of the thermal radiation.

9. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the cooling subsystem is a closed circuit loop cryogenic cooling system.

10. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the light source is characterized by a first cross sectional area, wherein the first cross sectional area is greater than a second cross sectional area of an analyzed portion of the sample.

11. The system as recited in claim 10 , wherein the light source is positioned such that outer boundaries thereof extend beyond outer boundaries of the analyzed portion of the sample along a plane oriented perpendicular to a central axis extending through a center point of the detector, the sample, and the light source, respectively.

12. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the light source is selected from the group consisting of: an infrared laser, and an infrared light emitting diode; and

wherein the thermal radiation transmitted from the light source through the sample is characterized by an emission wavelength at least partially overlapping a predefined water absorption band and/or a predefined water absorption line.

13. The system as recited in claim 12 , wherein each of the predefined water absorption band and the predefined water absorption line include wavelengths ranging from about 2.5 μm to about 3.3 μm.

14. A method for determining presence or absence of water in the system as recited in claim 1 , the method comprising:

heating the light source to a predetermined temperature at which the light source emits the thermal radiation;

placing the sample between the light source and the detector;

transmitting the thermal radiation from the light source through the sample and onto the detector; and

determining a presence or an absence of water within the sample based on the thermal radiation transmitted onto the detector.

15. The method as recited in claim 14 , comprising cooling the detector and the filter, wherein the cooling comprises reducing a temperature of the detector and a temperature of the filter to a temperature less than a temperature of the sample.

16. The method as recited in claim 14 , wherein the thermal radiation is a substantially uniform thermal radiation.

17. The method as recited in claim 14 , comprising filtering the thermal radiation transmitted through the sample prior to arrival of the thermal radiation at the detector; wherein the filtering:

selectively transmits, to the detector, first portions of the thermal radiation, the first portions being characterized by a first wavelength at least partially overlapping a predefined water absorption band and/or a predefined water absorption line; and

selectively blocks second portions of the thermal radiation, the second portions being characterized by a second wavelength outside the predefined water absorption band and/or the predefined water absorption line.

18. The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein each of the predefined water absorption band and the predefined water absorption line include wavelengths ranging from about 2.5 μm to about 3.3 μm.

19. The method as recited in claim 14 , comprising calibrating the detector to exhibit a flat response to thermal radiation characterized by a temperature between a first calibration temperature and a second calibration temperature.

20. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein the calibrating comprises:

heating the light source to the first calibration temperature;

acquiring a first image of the light source using the detector, wherein the detector comprises an infrared camera having a focal plane array;

heating the light source to the second calibration temperature;

acquiring a second image of the light source using the detector; and

adjusting, based on the first and second images, at least a gain and an offset of pixels in the focal plane array such that any sample exhibiting a temperature in a range from the first calibration temperature to the second calibration temperature yields the flat response by the detector; and

wherein the first calibration temperature is about 25° C. and the second calibration temperature is about 35° C.