An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Measurement and Standards Laboratories Fiscal Year 2003 (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Part III Division-Level Reviews: 9 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory: Division Reviews
Part III Division-Level Reviews: 9 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory: Division Reviews
Pages 85-126
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From page 85... ...
This part presents a technical review at the division level for each laboratory. Chapter 9 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory: Division Reviews Chapter 10 Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory: Division Reviews Chapter 1 1 Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory: Division Reviews Chapter 12 Physics Laboratory: Division Reviews Chapter 13 Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory: Division Reviews Chapter 14 Building and Fire Research Laboratory: Division Reviews Chapter 15 Information Technology Laboratory: Division Reviews 85
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From page 87... ...
The panel commends the Electricity Division of the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory (KEEL) for its management approach.
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From page 88... ...
This is the sort of measurement system that NIST can be proud of, for the system is clearly a leader among the various efforts in the world. Voltage Metrology The Voltage Metrology project maintains the U.S.
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From page 89... ...
The project is utilizing a programmable array for the voltage calibration services provided to its customers. KEEL enjoys a steady demand from its customers for calibration of saturated cell voltage standards.
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From page 90... ...
It maintains standards for power and energy and provides calibration services for AC and DC, electric power and energy, and other electrical purposes. The panel commends the project team for maintaining close ties with industry and other standards organizations and for its leadership in these relationships.
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From page 91... ...
This project' s efforts in support of NIST' s homeland security work have been extremely valuable, leading to the development of guides and published standards for metal detectors. Flat Panel Display Metrology The objective of the Flat Panel Display Metrology project is to develop robust, reproducible, and unambiguous metrology methods to characterize electronic displays, particularly flat panel displays (FPDs)
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From page 92... ...
The first objective is actually a mission statement encompassing the other two objectives; the second objective relates to homeland security; the Information System to Support Calibrations (ISSC) satisfies the third objective, by reducing the percentage of time that NIST scientists and support staff spend producing the necessary calibration forms and associated reports.
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From page 93... ...
Other important projects within NIST are also dependent upon the Josephson junction array voltage standard work carried on by the Voltage Metrology project. For example, the watt-kilogram experiments in both the United States and France are using Josephson array devices built by the NIST Voltage Metrology team.
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From page 94... ...
Recently increased attention to counterterrorism has focused on this vulnerability to our electrical energy distribution system, and its impacts on homeland security are direct and potentially enormous. The Time Domain Measurements project focuses on electrical measurements at timescales at the limit of present instrumentation.
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From page 95... ...
This project has generally sufficient resources, both in equipment and personnel, to perform its routine maintenance and requested calibration services. The adaptation to the AML and to NIST's internal quality system will be a heavy, but temporary, strain for perhaps the next 24 months.
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From page 96... ...
The Time Domain Measurements project, for one, has turned down homeland security projects owing to the lack of available human resources. The primary researcher on the Gaithersburg Single Electron Tunneling project is forced to spend months of his time dealing with commercial equipment failures.
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From page 97... ...
Technical Merit The mission of the Semiconductor Electronics Division is to provide technical leadership in the research and development of the semiconductor measurement infrastructure essential to silicon and other advanced semiconductor technology needs. The division's programs also respond to industrial measurement needs related to compound semiconductors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
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From page 98... ...
Therefore, the semiconductor industry worldwide is anxiously awaiting the development of viable, alternative gate dielectrics to replace SiO2 in future generations of CMOS technology. The Advanced MOS Device Reliability and Characterization Program within SED continues to olav an important role in fostering this development by developing stateof-the-art electrical measurement methods, tools, software packages, diagnostic procedures, reliability data, and models, and by providing leadership to standards organizations such as EIA/JEDEC and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
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From page 99... ...
Power Semiconductor Device and Thermal Metrology A major problem facing the rapidly emerging area of advanced power semiconductor devices is the ability to evaluate the performance and reliability of these devices while they are operating at high voltage, current, and frequency. The Power Semiconductor Device and Thermal Metrology project continues to focus on developing thermal and electrical metrology tools for the characterization of these advanced electronic devices that include, notably, silicon carbide-based power devices.
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From page 100... ...
The project team has used a combination of its MEMS in-house process capability, the standard CMOS system-on-chip (SOC) design and fabrication capabilities of an outside supplier, and the thermal imaging capabilities of its unique thermal imaging microscope to develop a sensitive gas sensor capability for homeland security.
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From page 101... ...
Thin Film Process Metrology The Thin Film Process Metrology project offers an important service to the semiconductor industry in providing methodology, optical standards, and properties of dielectric thin films for thickness measurements of gate oxide and high-k dielectric thin films. In 2003, this project continued to make good progress in extending the optical ellipsometry method for thickness measurements of ultrathin dielectric films.
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From page 102... ...
Nanoelectronic Device Metrology the Nanoelectronic Device Metrology project aims to investigate and develop metrology for two post-CMOS technologies in two related tasks: (1) the Molecular Electronics task and (2)
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From page 103... ...
Cooperation with DARPA has led to this team taking a key leadership role in the DARPA-driven Power Device Evaluation Team, which includes national laboratory, industry, and university participants. The team has used a combination of its various skills to develop and characterize a state-of-the-art ultrasensitive gas sensor capability for homeland security.
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From page 104... ...
RADIO-FREQUENCY TECHNOLOGY DIVISION Technical Merit The Radio-Frequency Technology Division provides the national metrology base for characterizat~on of the electromagnetic properties of components, materials, systems, and environments throughout the radio spectrum. The consensus of the panel is that excellent technical progress was observed during this assessment.
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From page 105... ...
· The Power and Voltage Standards project is exploring a fundamentally new approach to microwave power measurements which is based on the fact that the rate at which an atom, in the presence of an RF electromagnetic wave, oscillates between two quantum states is proportional to the field strength. This new approach will provide an alternative to the RF-to-DC thermal equivalence approach that is based on more fundamental quantum principles.
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From page 106... ...
Because speed and low cost are critical in these calibration services, many of these tests have been automated and optimized to improve measurement throughput. Power and voltage standards have improved the understanding and uncertainty of 2.4-mm coaxial power detectors through 50 GHz.
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From page 107... ...
Also, the measurement and characterization of a candidate superconducting device, developed jointly with the Electromagnetic Technology Division as a "standard" nonlinearity, were completed. Collaborations with university and industrial companies continue to ensure alignment with the needs of the customers in this new area.
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From page 108... ...
The calibration services include Antenna Gain Measurements, FBI Antenna, OLES Timing Devices, Shielding Effectiveness Measurements, Radiated Emissions, and Immunity Measurements. NIST develops and evaluates reliable measurement standards, test methods, and services to support the RF and EMC needs of U.S.
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From page 109... ...
would provide such an environment. The Radio-Frequency Technology Division has developed a proposal for a new world-class radiofrequency electromagnetics experimental research and measurement standards facility that will enable NIST to carry out its mission to support industry.
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From page 110... ...
The Electromagnetic Technology Division is divided into four projects: the Quantum Voltage project, Cryogenic Sensors project, Quantum Information and Terahertz Technology project, and Nanoscale Cryoelectronics project. There is no group-level organizational structure in this division.
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From page 111... ...
A cryoprobe technology needed for commercial use of the 1-V programmable standard was transferred to high-precision devices. In collaboration with the Quantum Information and Terahertz Technology project, a Josephson arbitrary waveform generator for a quantum Johnson noise thermometer is under development.
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From page 112... ...
multiplexing circuits, magnetic calorimeters, and an on-chip refrigerator using quantum tunneling. Quantum Information and Terahertz Technology The Quantum Information and Terahertz Technology project merges an ongoing effort in applications of terahertz radiation for advanced measurements with an emerging program in quantum information processing and computation.
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From page 113... ...
This effort is directly relevant to NIST's Strategic Focus Area on Information Technology and is likely to be a growth area in the next few years. Nanoscale Crycelectronics The Nanoscale Cryoelectronics project develops novel metrological integrated circuits at the nanoscale; measurement and fabrication techniques for thin films of emerging materials; and micromachined structures for unique measurement devices.
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From page 114... ...
This is just one of many efforts within the Electromagnetic Technology Division that could benefit the emerging homeland security aspect of the NIST program, and it represents a unique opportunity for KEEL to promote a part of the program that can be understood and appreciated by the general public, a key step to obtaining additional government funding. Another major success has been the semiconductor tomographic spectroscopy program, which could help with the characterization of plasma-based semiconductor manufacturing tools, resulting in high yield and greater cost-effectiveness.
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From page 115... ...
Besides the unquestioned relevance of their work to the support of the optoelectronics industry, they have also been extremely responsive to applying their talents and techniques to the issue of homeland security. The technical merit of the projects in the Optoelectronics Division is extremely high, and the panel commends the staff for the quality of its work.
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From page 116... ...
Some examples include the increased calibration services for higher-power fiber-coupled power meters. The panel had recommended extending the capability to 0.5 W to support the developing industry sector for Raman amplifiers and Raman pump lasers.
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From page 117... ...
, and developed measurement and calibration services that are the world's best and NIST-traceable. Owing to the growth in the electronics industry, this group could potentially continue to increase its interaction with industry by performing calibration services for foreign industries.
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From page 118... ...
The panel encourages the group to investigate how NIST can contribute to meeting the requirements and to stimulating innovation in this area. Program Relevance and Effectiveness The Optoelectronics Division has continued to support the industry through unparalleled calibration services, improving and expanding on the base of services supported.
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From page 119... ...
Finally, the Optoelectronics Division has done an excellent job of expanding its measurement techniques and calibration services to include the support of homeland defense. For example, the cavity ringdown spectroscopy techniques used to measure water concentrations in phosphine may be applied to lethal gas and explosives detection.
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From page 120... ...
Despite the funding challenges, the Optoelectronics Division is providing relevant and high-quality support of measurement techniques, services, and standards to the optoelectronics industry. The panel commends the division for delivering on the priorities and goals set out last year and for leveraging expertise throughout the laboratory to produce the highest-quality results.
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From page 121... ...
and four projects (Nanoprobe Imaging, Magnetic Recording Measurements, Magnetodynamics, and Magnetic Thin Films and Devices)
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From page 122... ...
Synergy with the Semiconductor Electronics Division's MEMS activities presents an opportunity to leverage resources. The MEMS Cs vapor cell for the chip-scale atomic clock is a very neat application of MEMS technology for miniaturizing precise time measurements.
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From page 123... ...
Furthermore, this work is recognized to have relevance to the area of homeland security as a forensic tool. Work on the integral superconducting flux-measurement loop for absolute calibration has been dropped owing to fabrication difficulties.
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From page 124... ...
~ ~ ___( ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ — —— — ——— — ———O—— —— — —1 —— — _ _ _ ~ _ _ ___( _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ Program Relevance and Effectiveness The panel finds that the programs of the Magnetic Technology Division are relevant to the needs of industry and various government agencies. Responses to comments in last year' s report have positively addressed many of the issues raised by the reviewing panel.
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From page 125... ...
More resources should be applied in these areas as well as to the strategic thrusts of NIST in health care, nanotechnology, and homeland security. More funding support is required for these initiatives.
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