Monitoring technology

DETAILED DESCRIPTION What is claimed is: 1.
An infrared spectroscopy system for monitoring the processing of a polymeric material comprising a source of infrared radiation for generating a beam of infrared radiation, infrared spectrum analyzing means, an infrared radiation transmission fiber that has a transmission portion and a sensor portion adapted to be embedded in the polymeric material to be monitored, and means for coupling said transmission fiber to said source to transmit a beam of infrared radiation through said fiber to said sensor portion and for coupling said fiber to said infrared spectrum analyzing means for analyzing the resulting spectra as said polymeric material is processed to provide kinetic information on the processing of said polymeric material.
2.
The system of claim 1 wherein said source is of the Michelson interferometer type.
3.
The system of claim 1 wherein said spectrum analyzing means is of the Fourier transform type.
4.
The system of claim 1 wherein the material of said fiber is selected from the class consisting of chalcogenide glass such as arsenic sulfide or arsenic germanium selenide, heavy metal fluoride glass, such a mixture of zirconium, barium, lanthanum and aluminum fluorides, and polycrystalline or single crystal materials such as thallium bromoiodide or cesium iodide.
5.
The system of claim 1 wherein said sensor fiber has a diameter of at least about one hundred micrometers and a refractive index greater than 1.
7.
6.
The system of claim 1 wherein said sensor-transmitter fiber has a length of at least about two meters with a clad transmission portion and an unclad sensor portion, both of which are adapted to be embedded in the polymer material to be monitored.
7.
The system of claim 6 wherein said fiber has a diameter of at least about one hundred micrometers, a refractive index greater than 1.
7 and an overall transmission loss of less than 5 dB per meter over an 1800-750 wavenumber bandwidth and said sensor portion of said fiber has a length that is less than about five percent of the overall length of said fiber