Thermally compensated dual-probe fluorescence decay rate temperature sensor

A system for measuring a sample surface temperature, the system comprising:

• a dual-probe sensor having two probes, each of the probes having a phosphor tip and each of the phosphor tips offset from the other by a fixed separation distance;
• two fiber optic patch cables, each of the fiber optic patch cables in communication with a corresponding one of each of the two probes;
• at least one excitation source to provide a modulated light source;
• at least one heating laser positioned to provide a plurality of predetermined heating laser power levels to each of the phosphor tips through each of the fiber optic cables to cause the phosphor tips to heat to a plurality of temperature levels;
• a beam combiner to receive the optical signals from the excitation source and the heating laser and to output a combined signal;
• a beam splitter to receive the combined signal from the beam combiner and to split the combined signal between a corresponding one of the two fiber optic patch cables;
• a first detector and a second detector in communication with a corresponding one of the two optical fibers, the detectors to monitor the fluorescence emitted by the phosphor tips;
• and
• a controller processor in communication with the first detector and the second detector, the controller processor to analyze the detected signals from the detectors and to correlate the fluorescence emitted by the each of the phosphor tips to the temperature level at each of the fiberoptic temperature sensor phosphor tips.