Infra red thermography, or thermal imaging, is a form of infra red imaging science. Thermographic cameras detect radiation in the infra red part of the spectrum, from 800 nm up to 14 microns. As infra red radiation is emitted from objects as a function of their temperature, this makes it possible to measure the temperature of an object by observing the infra red radiation emitted from it. The camera converts this data into a video image that can be stored for later analysis. This technology has a wide variety of uses, including monitoring of the thermal efficiency of buildings, medical imaging, automotive night vision, the security industry, optoelectronics (for instance, measuring the heat sinking efficiency of solid state lighting units) and the food science industry.

The Photonics Cluster laboratories infra red imaging camera is a FLIR Systems Thermovision A40 camera. This incorporates a microbolometer array that allows the detector to sense infra red radiation from 7.5 to 14 microns.