IR Thermography of Microwave Ovens

Microwave ovens, a part of our everyday lives, are based on various aspects of physics. The most common household use is the heating of food of course, but industrial microwave ovens are also used to dry a variety of goods. One common problem of microwave ovens is non-uniform heat treatment due to the spatial distribution of the microwave energy within the oven. Thermography offers an easy and valuable tool to investigate spatial non-uniformities in horizontal as well as vertical planes and study their changes on operating microwave ovens. Infrared cameras may complement and/or replace other more complex methods for visualization of the field of energy within a microwave oven. Additionally, thermography has also been used to perform in situ studies, i.e. monitor temperature distributions of objects within microwave ovens during operation by using IR transparent windows. In the second half of the 20th century, the use of microwave systems has increased dramatically, particularly in the fields of industrial, scientific and medical applications [1,2].