Patent ID: 8330109

Claim:
A method of determining contamination on a coating or a non-metallic material having suspected contamination, comprising: irradiating a reference coating or a non-metallic material with infrared energy over a spectrum of wavelengths using a spectrometer; detecting first infrared energy reflected from said reference coating or non-metallic material over said spectrum of wavelengths; irradiating said coating or non-metallic material having suspected contamination with infrared energy over a spectrum of wavelengths using the spectrometer or another spectrometer, said reference coating or non-metallic material being associated with said coating or non-metallic material having suspected contamination; detecting second infrared energy reflected from said coating or non-metallic material having suspected contamination over said spectrum of wavelengths; performing multivariate analysis on said first and second reflected infrared energy; comparing results of said multivariate analysis with calibration information for infrared energy spectra comprising said spectrum of wavelengths associated with said reference coating or non-metallic material; and determining presence or absence of contamination on said material having suspected contamination based on said calibration information.