Measurement of gas-phase temperatures in flames with a point-diffraction interferometer

Experiments were performed to evaluate the performance of a point-diffraction interferometry (PDI) system to measure gas-phase temperatures in flames. PDI is an interferometric technique that creates the reference beam after the laser beam passes through the test section and directly provides the index of refraction in two dimensions. PDI-based temperature measurements were compared with thermocouple measurements of two-dimensional and axisymmetric thermal boundary layers, as well as two-dimensional and axisymmetric diffusion flames. The PDI system provided excellent agreement in the measurement of thermal profiles in the boundary layers and was within the uncertainties that are due to the radiation corrections for the thermocouple-based flame temperature measurements. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.