Particle state and flux sensor

A method of measuring parameters of a particle comprising:

• a. providing a plurality of particles moving substantially in a first direction;
• b. providing a column of photo-detectors;
• c. providing an optical system and using said optical system for projecting light from at least one of said particles onto said column of photo-detectors, wherein said projected light from each of said at least one of said particles falls on a plurality of said photo-detectors of said column of photo-detectors;
• d. collecting said light with said plurality of photo-detectors for an interval of time and measuring amount of light collected by each of said photo-detectors during said interval of time, wherein said interval of time is set to avoid overlapping projected light from different particles on any of said photodetectors;
• and
• e. using said measurement of light collected during said interval of time to determine at least one from the group consisting of temperature and diameter of said at least one of said particles.

A method of measuring parameters of a particle comprising:

• a. providing an array of photo-detectors including a first photo-detector and a second photo-detector;
• b. providing an optical system that projects light coming from a measurement volume onto said array of photo-detectors;
• c. providing a particle moving across said measurement volume, wherein said particle has a first portion and a second portion, wherein said first portion is different from said second portion, wherein said particle is moving substantially in a first direction, wherein said optical system is positioned and said array of photo-detectors is oriented so said optical system projects light from said first portion onto said first photo-detector and light from said second portion onto said second photo-detector;
• d. receiving light from said measurement volume with said array of photo-detectors for an exposure time, wherein amount of light received from said first portion is measured by said first photo-detector and amount of light received from said second portion is measured by said second photo-detector wherein said first photo-detector collects light from only one particle during said exposure time and wherein said second photo-detector collects light from only said one particle during said exposure time;
• e. using amount of light measured by said first photo-detector and amount of light measured by second photo-detector to determine at least one from the group consisting of temperature and diameter of said particle.