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ATP
Project
in Integrated Optoelectronic Manufacturing a Success
The
progressive merging of optics and electronics technologies took
another step forward last week when Digital Optics Corp. (Charlotte,
N.C.) announced the successful completion of the company’s
Advanced Technology Program project to develop manufacturing technologies
that combine electronic and miniaturized optoelectronic components
on semiconductor wafer assemblies.
Optical fibers, with their huge data-transfer capacities, are
becoming pervasive in telecommunications and getting ever closer
to the consumer’s front door. But the manufacture of critical,
high-performance optoelectronic components—those that convert
electrons to photons and back again—still generally relies
on costly manual assembly techniques. With support from a 1998
ATP award, Digital Optics has developed a suite of manufacturing
techniques that offer an unprecedented level of automation and
integration in making complex optoelectronic modules.
In a Digital Optics “Photonic Chip™,” passive components
(such as lenses and mirrors) are fabricated
on wafers using photolithography. Complex optical assemblies are
built up through wafer-to-wafer bonding (stacking several wafers
together), and “flip-chip” techniques are used to add
active components such as lasers and other electronic elements.
The approach allows Digital Optics to fabricate quite complex
optoelectronic modules without either costly manual assembly of
individual components or the need to precisely align and adjust
the components of each module individually.
Initial application of the Digital Optics technology is expected
to be in devices for short-range data communications and highly
integrated sensor modules. Eventually, the technology is expected
to lead to new generations of low-cost, high-performance optoelectronic
systems.
Additional information on Digital Optics Corp. is available at
www.doc.com. To learn more about
the ATP, go to www.atp.nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
Michael
Baum , (301) 975-2763
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Materials
New
Version of Charpy Machine Guide Is Now Available
Featuring
a new “ready-for-the-workplace” format, the latest version
of the NIST guide for the use of Charpy impact testing machines
is now available. The previous edition (NIST Technical Note 1500-8)
was announced last year (see the NIST Update issue of May
22, 2000, at www.nist.gov/update/upd000522.htm).
Charpy machines, based on the swing of a pendulum, are used to
determine the temperature at which structural materials go through
a ductile-to-brittle transition. Charpy impact testing is often
specified as an acceptance test for materials used in critical
structures such as bridges and pressure vessels.
As with NIST TN 1500-8, the new version of the guide—recast
as a NIST Recommended Practice Guide (NIST Special Publication
960-4)—explains how engineers and technicians can install,
maintain and verify their Charpy impact testing machines. What
makes the new publication special is its improved formatting.
Featured are a smaller, easier-to-handle size and a more durable
glossy hard cover so that the guide can be kept near the Charpy
machine and used repeatedly.
For a free copy of the Practice Guide, contact Sarabeth
Harris, NIST, MC 104, Boulder, Colo. 80305-3328; (303) 497-3237.
Media
Contact:
Fred
McGehan (Boulder) , (303) 497-3246
Standards
U.S.,
EU Implement Agreement to Reduce Trade Barriers
O
n Jan. 17, 2001, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced
the successful conclusion of a two-year effort to facilitate trade
between the United States and the European Union by allowing manufacturers
on both sides of the Atlantic to bring products to market in a
more timely fashion. The latest action, which follows up on a
U.S.-EU Mutual Recognition Agreement signed in December 1998 covering
multiple industry sectors, specifically addresses product testing
of telecommunications and electronic equipment.
For these two product areas, the MRA calls for “Conformity
Assessment Bodies” in either the United States or the EU
to test and approve equipment to the other government’s regulatory
requirements, as specified in the MRA. NIST has nominated, and
the EU has accepted, 33 U.S. organizations as competent to test
and approve equipment. The EU will recognize certificates issued
by these labs as meeting EU requirements, and, in turn, the United
States will recognize product testing by 32 EU-designated labs.
By eliminating duplicative assessments for most telecommunications
and electronics products, both U.S. and EU manufacturers can export
their goods without additional tests and certifications at the
distribution point. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
estimates that implementation of this portion of the 1998 MRA
will eventually save approximately $30 billion annually.
For more information, contact Mary
Saunders, (301) 975-6766.
Media
Contact:
Michael
E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
Physics
Short
Course on Radiation Thermometer Measurement Offered
Infrared
radiometry is widely used in science and industry to measure temperature,
particularly when a contact measurement would be hazardous or
impossible. Practical applications span a broad range of industries,
including the inspection of high-voltage power-line splices, computer
circuit boards, jet engines, industrial processes, food-safety
equipment and building insulation systems. While radiation thermometry
is widely used, the factors that go into making accurate, reliable
measurements are not always well understood by users.
To
help scientists, engineers and calibration technicians better
understand and control their radiation thermometer measurements,
the NIST Optical Technology Division has developed a four-day
course on temperature measurement by radiation thermometry. It
covers the fundamentals of determining temperatures from thermal
radiation; provides practical experiences in using radiometers,
sources and optical elements; and trains participants in performing
uncertainty analysis. It includes skill-building, problem-solving
laboratory experiments and lectures on radiometry fundamentals,
emissivity, blackbodies, the signal measurement equation, the
temperature measurement equation and NIST temperature calibration
services. Up to 16 participants can take the annual course.
The
short course is offered annually. The next one will be held on
June 4-8, 2001, at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Md., headquarters.
The cost is $1,200. To register, please use the web site at www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/conffutr.htm.
Answers to technical questions can be obtained at http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div844/rtsc.html
or by contacting Carol
Johnson, (301) 975-2322.
Media
Contact:
Michael
Baum , (301) 975-2763
Standards
SET
for Fundamental Measurements in Electricity Explained
Single-electron
tunneling, or SET, devices provide a means of manipulating individual
electrons and detecting the motion of these electrons with extraordinary
precision. The potential for these devices to impact the field
of electrical measurement—specifically, capacitance and current
standards—was first recognized in the 1980s. More recently,
the performance of these devices has been pushed to the levels
needed for fundamental standards and high-precision measurements.
A new paper from NIST researcher Mark W. Keller in Boulder, Colo.,
describes the essential physics of SET devices, discusses various
schemes for making capacitance and current standards based on
SET devices, and covers the relevance of SET standards for fundamental
constants and the International System of Units. The development
of a NIST prototype SET capacitance standard is described as proceeding
along three pathways: (1) a transportable version of the prototype
is being constructed for direct comparison with the calculable
capacitor at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md.; (2) a detailed
uncertainty analysis of all aspects of the standard is being developed;
and (3) an effort is under way to design an easy-to-use, robust
and automated system with computer control of as many functions
as possible.
“There
is still much room for improvement in our basic understanding
of the limits on performance of these devices that attempt to
transfer individual electrons as fast as possible and with as
few mistakes as possible,” Keller writes. He adds that “given
the relative immaturity of SET metrology, the progress reported
here is impressive.”
Standards
based on SET devices are being pursued in other areas as well.
For example, an absolute thermometer based on SET effects has
been demonstrated and is available as a commercial product. In
another case, regulated sources of single photons based on SET
effects have been proposed in two types of semiconductor systems.
The
paper, no. 53-00, is available free of charge by contacting Sarabeth
Harris, NIST, MC 104, Boulder, Colo. 80305-3328; (303) 497-3237.
Media
Contact:
Fred
McGehan (Boulder) ,
(303) 497-3246
Grants
Competitions
Open for 13 Research Funding Opportunities
NIST
announced in the Federal Register of Jan. 11, 2001, that it has
opened the fiscal year 2001 competitions for funding under 13
different research grant programs: Precision Measurement Grants;
the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (known as SURF)
in six NIST laboratories (Building and Fire Research, Chemical
Science and Technology, Information Technology, Manufacturing
Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics);
the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory Grants Program;
the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory Grants Program;
the Fire Research Grants Program; the Manufacturing Engineering
Laboratory Grants Program; the Materials Science and Engineering
Laboratory Grants Program; and the Physics Laboratory Grants Program.
Applications are due by Feb. 15, 2001, for the Precision Measurement
Grants and all of the SURF programs, and by Sept. 30, 2001, for
the laboratory grants programs.
For
details on the 13 grant programs and complete application requirements,
go to the online Federal Register at www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html
and enter “01/11/2001” and “National Institute
of Standards and Technology” as search keywords to reach
the Jan. 11 notice. Specific information on the Precision Measurements
Grants is at http://physics.nist.gov/ResOpp/grants/grants.html.
For more about SURF, go to www.surf.nist.gov/surf2.htm.
Descriptions of the other six grants may be found on the web sites
of the individual NIST laboratories.
Media
Contact:
Michael
E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
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