Media
Contact:
Mark
Bello, (301) 975-3776
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 thats
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 sectorsaerospace, automotive, chemical
processing, communications, computers, construction, electronics,
health care and manufacturingare 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
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 seriesis 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 NISTs Rockwell hardness research, contact Sam
Low, (301) 975-5089, samuel.low@nist.gov.
The contact for NISTs diamond indenter calibration effort is
John Song, (301) 975-3799, song@nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
Pamela
Houghtaling, (301) 975-5745
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 years
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 NCNRs
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.
NCNRs 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 NCNRs summer school, contact John Copley, (301) 975-5133,
john.copley@nist.gov, or
Peter Gehring, (301) 975-3946, peter.gehring@nist.gov.
The summer schools 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
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 NISTs 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.
Capacitancea
measure of electrical charge-storing capacityalso 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 users guide to the software this
summer. Both the software and the guide will be available via NISTs
World Wide Web site at that time.