Backward Monte Carlo analysis on stray radiation of an infrared optical system

In an infrared optical system, the thermal radiation of high temperature components is the major noise as stray radiation that degrades the system performance. Backward Monte Carlo method based on radiation distribution factor is proposed to perform the stray radiation calculation. Theoretical deduction and some techniques are presented, considering the semitransparent element like IR window as radiation emitter. The radiation distribution factors are calculated with ray tracing from the detector to radiation sources. Propagation of stray radiation and its distribution on the detector are obtained simultaneously. It is unnecessary to implement ray tracing again to study the effect of different temperatures for a given system, expect that the geometry or radiative property is changed. An infrared system is simulated using this method. Two different situations are discussed and the analysis shows that stray radiation is mainly created by IR window and lens tube.