The energy in the IR-Gold Image Furnace is created by infrared lamps located inside the furnace body. The inside surfaces of the body are coated with gold and reflects the IR-energy into the center area, where a quartz or glass tube carries the sample.
 

The reflecting surface can be either elliptical or parabolic, depending on if the energy inside the tube shall be concentrated in the very center of the tube, or spread over the whole cross section area.
 

The design has many advantages:
* The water-cooled body will never get hot, because the IR-energy is reflected away from the surface.
* The furnace is made of aluminium, which give it a low mass. The melting point of aluminium is 660 °C,although many of the furnace models work up to 1400 °C. It is possible to create a temperature inside the tube that is higher then the melting point of the tube material. The great advantage this gives, is that the temperature in the sample area can be increased and lowered with very high speed.
* The furnace body, unlike for instance muffle furnaces, doesn`t need to be warmed up, neither cooled down. The energy that is produced is concentrated to the sample area alone.

A product brochure showing the different sizes and models is avalible here: IR furnaces.