MICROWAVE-SOURCE TIME-RESOLVED INFRARED RADIOMETRY FOR MONITORING OF CURING AND DEPOSITION PROCESSES

A method for monitoring curing and deposition processes is proposed wh ich employs microwave heating of embedded conductive fibers and the su bsequent analysis of the time-dependent temperature field. Such a meth od is not dependent on the optical properties of the surface which can present a difficulty for conventional photothermal approaches, partic ularly if the surface properties are varying during processing. An ana lysis approach is presented in which both the surface layer thickness and its thermal diffusivity are determined independently.