Thanks to some rather handy new technology, the price of the lenses built for thermal imaging cameras could be cut dramatically both for the consumer, and also for the manufacturer.
The new process, which is being developed by a company known as Fraunhofer, could apparently lead to a massive 70% reduction in the overall manufacturing cost of the lenses, allowing the price of thermal cameras to be much more reasonable to the camera’s customers.
We have developed a production process for lenses that enables us to lower the costs of these components by more than 70 per cent. Thus the prize for the microbolometer could be reduced,’ said Dr Helen Müller, scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg.
As it stands, making thermal lenses is a long, arduous process for the manufacturer. In order to make them, the manufacturer must first get their hands on materials like germanium, zinc selenide or zinc sulphide, grind them up, polishing them or using diamond tuning to turn them into useful lenses for thermal cameras.
‘Instead of crystalline materials, we use the amorphous chalcogenide glass. Its softening temperature — that is, the temperature at which it can be formed — is low,’ said Müller. ‘Therefore, we can form it using non-isothermic hot stamping.’
The process basically involves pressing the glass between two pressing tools, where it is heated and formed before cooling afterwards. Unlike other methods, this process cuts down significantly on the costs of manufacturing the lenses because it doesn’t require the lengthy process other styles of making lenses currently use.
The most important thing about this information is how the technology could have a far-reaching effect across thermography. By cutting manufacturing costs, thermal cameras can be sold for more affordable prices, and thermal technology can potentially be used in more installations around the world.
Scientists are currently hard at work refining the process.
