An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Measurement and Standards Laboratories Fiscal Year 2003 (2003) / Chapter Skim
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12 Physics Laboratory: Division Reviews
12 Physics Laboratory: Division Reviews
Pages 175-206
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From page 175... ...
Because of the ready availability of stable, debris-free radiation in this wavelength range, the SURF III facility is well suited for this work. Such work is of major importance to the semiconductor community, since EUV lithography is the leading candidate for next-generation lithography technology.
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From page 176... ...
A widely used product is the calibration of diodes as secondary standards, which entails painstaking measurements of aging effects and development of diode coatings, such as platinum silicide, for better stability. A UV interferometer beam line is also serving the lithography community by high-precision measurements of optical constants.
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From page 177... ...
Internal as well as external interactions have been established. An example of the former is analytical work on vortex states in V3Si to assist the Nanoscale Physics Laboratory's measurements, while among the latter are a collaboration with Nanoscale Physics Laboratory on spin injection from a ferromagnetic metal into a semiconductor and work with researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technolo~v and the Johns Hopkins University addressing spin-transfer torques in magnetic heterostructures.
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From page 178... ...
-l-ne recent Nobel Prizes won by NIST scientists continue to stimulate intellectual excitement and enthusiasm. ATOMIC PHYSICS DIVISION Technical Merit The Atomic Physics Division develops and applies atomic physics research methods to achieve fundamental advances in measurement science and to produce and critically compile physical reference data.
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From page 179... ...
Of particular note this year are the charge exchange studies that the group performed using its new gas jet target. The group's expertise in surface modification by highly charged ions has led to its playing a pivotal role in the characterization of damage to light-collection optics for EUV lithography by highly charged xenon ions.
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From page 180... ...
Program Relevance and Effectiveness Programs in the Atomic Physics Division show a clear tracking to the NIST mission in both relevance and effectiveness. The level of support offered by the division's work to national industrial and scientific endeavors can be illustrated by several examples.
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From page 181... ...
It is clear that the Atomic Spectroscopy Group is serving the critical needs of a variety of constituencies exceedingly well. One particularly impressive theme being addressed across disciplines within the Atomic Physics Division is the support of initiatives of the microlithography industry toward significantly higher circuit densities in microelectronics.
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From page 182... ...
Given the widespread use of contractors by NIST, it is important that the division and the laboratory aggressively pursue means to improve their situations. These issues are likely not specific to the Atomic Physics Division or the Physics Laboratory, but the panel mentions them here as an observation from staff-level discussions.
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From page 183... ...
Within NIST, the Optical Technology Division has the institutional responsibility for maintaining two base SI units: the unit of temperature above 1234.96 K and the unit of luminous intensity, the candela. The division also maintains the national scales for other optical radiation measurements and ensures their relationship to the SI units.
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From page 184... ...
for lighting, signaling, and display applications is a growth industry, prompted by the continued advances in LED spectral coverage, versatility, and efficiency. The Optical Technology Division has recognized the expanding needs for LED characterization and associated photometric standards and has evolved its tools and adapted its resources to meet these needs.
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From page 185... ...
With respect to precision measurements of surfaces and interfaces, the broadband, infrared-visible sum-frequency generation spectroscopy pioneered in the Optical Technology Division provides the power of an interface-specific optical technique with the possibility for rapid data collection of vibrational spectra. The division team has demonstrated the utility and uniqueness of this approach in several noteworthy studies.
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From page 186... ...
Within the Optical Technology Division there is also an emphasis on responsiveness to national security needs. NIST envisions a significant role in supporting homeland security, and the division has responded in a timely and well-considered manner.
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From page 187... ...
Division Resources Despite the ambitious technical objectives of the Optical Technology Division, its budget is tightly constrained, and the number of permanent employees is strictly limited. To meet the goals of the division, extensive use is being made of personnel in various other budgetary categories, such as postdoctoral research associates, contract employees, and emeritus staff.
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From page 188... ...
IONIZING RADIATION DIVISION Technical Merit The Ionizing Radiation Division's mission is to provide national leadership in promoting accurate, meaningful, and comparable measurements of ionizing radiations (X-rays, gamma rays, electrons, neutrons, energetic charged particles, and radioactivity)
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From page 189... ...
A detailed operations scheme for this new service has been developed, and work to build it has started through a contract with Advanced Technology Research Corporation, although the project has been slowed by a lack of resources. In support of this online calibration service, a new film dosimeter has been tested and found to improve the quality of industrial processing using ionizing radiation.
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From page 190... ...
Further, collaboration between the Ionizing Radiation Division and the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory's Biotechnology Division produced encouraging data regarding the applicability of existing DNA profiling tests to mail treated with high doses of ionizing radiation. In essence, they demonstrated that irradiation did not affect DNA to any significant degree, and it could therefore still be used for forensic purposes.
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From page 191... ...
This new imaging modality has broad application in the development of alternate energy sources, environmental applications, and homeland security. It already has been used to quantify chemical processes in sealed fuel cells nondestructively and in situ imagine that cannot be done any other way.
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From page 192... ...
To this end, test facilities for the calibration and testing of portal monitors, handheld detectors, pagers, and isotope identifiers are being established and used to test and compare the efficiency, precision, and accuracy of 10 commercially available instruments. Complementing these efforts are activities designed to define and develop a new set of Standard Reference Materials to be used as check sources for different types of detectors used for homeland security applications.
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From page 193... ...
Future plans include evaluating RIMS for the detection and measurement of Pu isotopes and atom trapping to achieve single-atom detection. Program Relevance and Effectiveness The program directions established within the Ionizing Radiation Division are both highly relevant to national needs and supportive of international cooperative programs.
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From page 194... ...
In this regard, through several years of concentrated effort, the Radioactivity Group is now ahead of the measurement community with its RIMS capability and has once again regained prominence in radiometric calorimetry for absolute radioactivity measurements. Division Resources In 2002, the Ionizing Radiation Division's budget increased by $1.3 million, from $7.7 million to $9.0 million, as a result of a one-time influx of funds to cover efforts related to homeland security,
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From page 195... ...
Because of increased efforts involving homeland security, three additional technical staff members were on loan half-time to the Ionizing Radiation Division from other organizations within the Physics Laboratory. Because of the budget uncertainties and rapidly expanding responsibilities during this period, hiring has appeared to center on replacing essential personnel who either took positions outside NIST or retired during the past year.
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From page 196... ...
First, the requirements for their core mission involving standards and calibration services have increased substantially. (Examples include the use of the neutron imaging facility for imaging chemical processes in fuel cells and the standards and calibration work associated with brachytherapy seeds, as well as standards and protocols for newly approved radiopharmaccutical agents.)
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From page 197... ...
The division is organized in six technical groups, which are small in size but show very strong integration. These groups are Atomic Standards, Ion Storage, Time and Frequency Metrology, Network Synchronization, Optical Frequency Measurements, and Time and Frequency Services.
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From page 198... ...
The capability to do 200- to 300-ps time transfer with PTB last year enabled frequency comparisons at the 5 x 10-~6 level with a 20-day averaging time. The current goal for two-way time transfer is 100 ps, which will likely need ionospheric corrections.
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From page 199... ...
Optical Frequency Measurements The Optical Frequency Measurements Group continues to develop and extend the applications of the optical frequency combs. These have been produced by injecting femtosecond pulses from a modelocked laser into a microstructure fiber to broaden the spectrum to the required octave.
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From page 200... ...
Division Resources Time and Frequency Division resources are growing at a reasonable rate, and the division continues to attract and retain high-quality personnel. It is staffed at a level sufficient to continue good progress on scientific and technical projects, and overall is reasonably well supported.
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From page 201... ...
The test and measurements laboratory is hindered by the interference of RF and microwave signals in the building, and is likely to be limited in its capability to conduct noise measurements with the needed sensitivities. QUANTUM PHYSICS DIVISION Technical Merit The Quantum Physics Division makes up the NIST portion of JILA (formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics)
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From page 202... ...
A new quantum condensate consisting of both cold Bose and Fermi atoms has also been produced and is being characterized. Laser Stabilization and Control The Quantum Physics Division has been a consistent pioneer of laser stabilization science and technology that has found its way into other NIST laboratories, into basic optical physics projects around the world, and into commercial laser products.
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From page 203... ...
Experiments in the Quantum Physics Division seek to provide fundamental measurements of these processes that would facilitate advances toward useful quantum information processing concepts and toward the realization of "spintronic" devices, which use the spin of the carriers rather than the charge for the transport of information. Femtosecond Comb A major development is under way to exploit the frequency techniques developed in JILA in order to effect quantum control in a unique way.
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From page 204... ...
Program Relevance and Effectiveness The Quantum Physics Division, along with its JILA partners, provides innovative fundamental advances at the frontier of science that are of interest because they have high potential for future advances in measurement science and technology. The division also continues to refine technology of proven utility to NIST measurement science programs, such as advanced laser stabilization methods.
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From page 205... ...
Closer collaborations within JILA of the three people involved in biological physics would be beneficial. Division Resources The Quantum Physics Division continues to nourish and build a highly qualified staff for the performance and extension of its capabilities.
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From page 206... ...
Biological physics as practiced at JILA provides a rather challenging combination of facility support issues. JILA is well prepared to address some aspects of this challenge: that is, vibrationally quiet spaces for high-resolution imaging, very well managed clean air flow, and room temperature control.
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