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Standards

Wanted: Measurements with Good References

In nearly all types of activities—be they related to manufacturing, finance, health, regulatory affairs or even sports—people and organizations are becoming sticklers for measurement accuracy. But unlike beauty (said to be in the eye of the beholder), accuracy must be judged on the basis of a measurement pedigree—a documented line of descent from accepted standards.

NIST, the nation’s measurement authority, has responded to this growing customer need for demonstrable accuracy. It has created an on-line resource—www.nist.gov/traceability—devoted to matters pertaining to the integrally related topic of measurement traceability—whether the result of a specific measurement can be related to accepted international or national standards through an unbroken chain of comparisons.

“More and more of our customers are asking questions about traceability,” explains NIST Acting Director Karen Brown. “These range from the most basic—What is it?—to the more complex—How can I judge the credibility of a supplier’s claims that his measurements are linked to those developed and maintained by NIST and ultimately to the SI, the International System of Units?”

Factors driving the growth of traceability requirements include increasing world trade, growing reliance on laboratory accreditation as a means of assuring confidence in calibration and test reports, the continuing spread of quality standards and, in some technology areas, a proliferation of regulations.

At the new web site, visitors can read the NIST policy on traceability. They also can review, among other resources, a glossary of terms, answers to an extensive set of frequently asked questions on traceability, examples of relevant NIST measurement programs, and a traceability checklist for users of calibration services.

To learn more, visit the NIST traceability web site at www.nist.gov/traceability. For technical information, contact Mary Saunders, NIST Global Standards Program, (301) 975-2396, mhs@nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776

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World Wide Web

New Online Pages Guide Industry to Sector-Specific NIST Services

How do you find accurate measurement standards for gauging the thrust from a jet engine? How do you verify the accuracy of your new infrared spectrometer for EPA-required emissions monitoring? Where do you order a NIST measurement standard for optical fiber diameter that’s accurate to within a micrometer?

Answers to these and many more questions are just a couple of clicks away on a new NIST “Information for Industry” web site. NIST has created these new web pages to help industry personnel find the specific NIST standard, measurement or technology they need with minimal effort. Pages for nine different industry sectors—aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, communications, computers, construction, electronics, health care and manufacturing—are available from www.nist.gov/public_affairs/industry.htm.

Each industry-sector page is organized by subcategories with brief descriptions of relevant NIST support, activities and research. Many of the activities include a contact name with a phone number and e-mail address. You also can get to the industry sector pages from the NIST home page (www.nist.gov). Click on “Industry” under the “Information For” heading.

Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025

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Materials

New NIST Practice Guide on Rockwell Hardness Testing Available

The NIST Recommended Practice Guide: Rockwell Hardness Measurement of Metallic Materials (NIST Special Publication 960-5)—the latest in the new practice guide publication series—is now available. Rockwell is a method-based test primarily used by metals and metal products producers to measure the hardness of metal parts, such as those found in aircraft and automobiles. The new guide is aimed at promoting accuracy and consistency in test results in the laboratory and on the production floor.

Offering good practice recommendations, the guide highlights the causes of variability in test results. To help machine operators avoid errors, the guide covers common problems, such as using the correct Rockwell scale, surface preparation, speed of testing, machine verification and environmental factors.

As part of its Rockwell hardness standardization program, NIST has developed standard reference material test blocks for the Rockwell C scale, which is used for hard metals, primarily steel. The SRMs are used to calibrate commercial hardness machines. Researchers are working on SRMs for the B scale softer metals, such as aluminum, bronze, copper and brass. NIST also is involved with the American Society for Testing and Materials, the International Standards Organization and the International Committee of Weights and Measures in developing an international reference standard.

Responding to a related industry problem, NIST has established a microform calibration system for measuring the geometry of diamond indenters with high accuracy.

To obtain a copy of NIST SP 960-5, contact Public Inquiries, (301) 975-NIST (6478), inquiries@nist.gov. For more information on NIST’s Rockwell hardness research, contact Sam Low, (301) 975-5089, samuel.low@nist.gov. The contact for NIST’s diamond indenter calibration effort is John Song, (301) 975-3799, song@nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Pamela Houghtaling, (301) 975-5745

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Training

Want Skills in Neutron Spectroscopy? Go to Summer School!

On June 18-22, 2001, the NIST Center for Neutron Research will conduct its seventh annual summer school geared for students at the graduate level. Partially funded by the National Science Foundation, this year’s course will focus on the methods and applications of low-energy neutron spectroscopy, an experimental technique widely used to study the motion of atoms, molecules and magnetic moments in a variety of condensed matter systems (mostly solids). The emphasis will be on scattering methods that employ long-wavelength neutrons to achieve high-energy resolution.

Students will perform a variety of hands-on experiments using five of NCNR’s state-of-the-art neutron scattering instruments: the disk-chopper time-of-flight spectrometer, the filter-analyzer spectrometer, the high-flux backscattering spectrometer, the neutron spin-echo spectrometer and the spin-polarized inelastic neutron scattering spectrometer. Each device is unique in the United States. For each instrument, students will learn the scientific motivation for the measurements, how the instrument works, how to mount samples, how to set up the instrument to collect data, and how to visualize and analyze the data.

NCNR’s neutron source is operated as a national user facility open to guest researchers from universities, private industry and other government laboratories in the United States and abroad.

For more information on NCNR’s summer school, contact John Copley, (301) 975-5133, john.copley@nist.gov, or Peter Gehring, (301) 975-3946, peter.gehring@nist.gov. The summer school’s web site is www.ncnr.nist.gov/staff/john/ss01.html. Information on the NCNR can be found at www.ncnr.nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Pamela Houghtaling, (301) 975-5745

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Electronics

Semiconductor Labs Put New NIST Software Through Its Paces

Forty semiconductor industry laboratories that require accurate measurements of the concentration and distribution of dopant atoms within nanometer-scale devices are field testing a beta version of NIST’s new FASTC2D (“fast capacitance to dopant” level) software. The software provides an essential link between qualitative images captured by a scanning capacitance microscope (known as an SCM) and quantitative data required to design transistors for future integrated circuits.

Dopants are like a seasoning within semiconductor devices. The distribution of dopants controls how a transistor works. To control the flow of electrons to the levels required in modern circuits, engineers must know the precise distribution of dopants, with a spatial resolution better than 10 nanometers.

SCMs are strong candidates for achieving target levels of precision and resolution. Therefore, the International Technology Road Map for Semiconductors has identified them as a critical measurement tool for continued miniaturization of semiconductors.

Capacitance—a measure of electrical charge-storing capacity—also could benefit from the use of SCMs. The SCM senses capacitance between the doped region and a sharp tip positioned close to the surface of a cross section cut through the transistor structure. However, details of the resulting image have resisted accurate interpretation.

The FASTC2D computer software transforms pixel data from an SCM image into a map that accurately shows the distribution of dopant atoms. NIST researchers developed the underlying theory and later packaged it into software suitable for manufacturing engineers. Designed to run on a desktop computer, the software features a user-friendly graphical interface. It also produces highly accurate results achieved with models based on principles of physics that translate capacitance into two- or three-dimensional quantitative data on dopant concentrations.

NIST is improving the software based on responses from the 40 laboratories and plans to publish a new version and a user’s guide to the software this summer. Both the software and the guide will be available via NIST’s World Wide Web site at that time.

Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661

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Centennial

New Publication Showcases Key NIST Research Achievements

As part of NIST’s 100th birthday celebration, the agency has published a retrospective of the pivotal scientific and technical papers that marked its most significant contributions to science, technology, the economic growth of the nation and a better quality of life for all Americans. A Century of Excellence in Measurements, Standards and Technology: A Chronicle of Selected NBS/NIST Publications 1901-2000 (NIST Special Publication 958) is now available on the World Wide Web via the NIST Centennial site, www.100.nist.gov.

This book, which consists of vignettes describing some of the classic publications from NIST’s first century, features titles such as “Development of the Visual-Type Airway Radio-Beacon System” (telling about the NIST system which made possible the first “blind” landing of an aircraft using radio signals in 1931); “Reversal of the Parity Conservation Law in Nuclear Physics” (recounting the 1956 experiment that shattered a fundamental concept of nuclear physics universally accepted for 30 years previously); “The Topografiner: An Instrument for Measuring Surface Microtopography” (recognizing the 1972 development of the world’s first scanning probe microscope); “HAZARD I: Software for Fire Hazard Assessment” (describing one of the first fire simulation models for personal computers in 1989); “Observation of Atoms Laser-Cooled Below the Doppler Limit” (chronicling the research that led to NIST’s William Phillips sharing the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics); and “Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Dilute Atomic Vapor” (detailing the research that led to the first observation of a new state of matter in 1995).

NIST SP 958 will be available in hard copy at a future date from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Rd., Springfield, Va. 22161, (800) 553-6847. Ask for order no. PB 2000-107702.

Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025

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Editor: Michael E. Newman

Date created: 5/14/2001
Page maintained by Crissy Robinson

 

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