Patent ID: 8345215

Claim:
A system for the optical determination of a predetermined event temperature of a micro-environment, the system comprising a light source, a light detector, and a thermochromic liquid crystal in said micro-environment in combination with a luminophore, wherein said thermochromic liquid crystal is in liquid form during use and prevents or allows excitation of the luminophore by the light source in a temperature-dependent manner, wherein: A) the thermochromic liquid crystal lies between i) the light source and the luminophore; and/or ii) the luminophore and the light detector; or B) the thermochromic liquid crystal, luminophore, and light detector are positioned so that i) light reflected by the thermochromic liquid crystal irradiates the luminophore, and the light detector is positioned to detect light emitted by the luminophore; and/or ii) light emitted by the luminophore is reflected by the thermochromic liquid crystal, and the light detector is positioned to detect said reflected light, and wherein said luminophore and said thermochromic liquid crystal are present as discrete layers within a container for said system.