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Fluorescent microthermographic imaging, a method using rare-earth fluorescent coatings with temperature dependent light emission, was used for quench investigation in high temperature superconductors (HTS). A fluorophore was embedded in a polymer matrix and used as a coating on top of an HTS tape, while being excited with UV light and recorded with a high-speed camera. Simultaneously, the tape was pulsed with high amplitude, short duration DC current, and brought to quench with the help of a localised defect. The Joule heating during a quench influences the fluorescent light intensity emitted from the coating, and by recording the local variations in this intensity over time, the heating of the tape can be visualised and the developed temperatures can be calculated. In this paper, the fluorophore europium tris[3-(trifluoromethylhydroxymethylene)-(+)-camphorate] (EuTFC) provided sufficient temperature sensitivity and a usable temperature range from 77–260 K. With the help of 2500 image captures per second, the normal zone development was imaged in a 20 μm copper stabilised HTS tape held in a liquid nitrogen bath, and using a calibration curve, the temperatures reached during the quench have been calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]