Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology articles from March 2001

Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology archives from March 2001

Note to Readers.
March 1, 2001... Dear Reader, I am honored to succeed Barry N. Taylor as Chief Editor of the Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Barry has served the Journal and NIST with distinction both through his encouragement of...

Message From Past Chief Editor.
March 1, 2001... Dear Reader, With this issue (Volume 106, No. 2, March-April 2001), Theodore Vorburger succeeds me as Chief Editor of the Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It has been my pleasure to serve as Chief...

A Careful Consideration of the Calibration Concept.
March 1, 2001... This paper presents a detailed discussion of the technical aspects of the calibration process with emphasis on the definition of thc measurand, the conditions under which the calibration results are valid, and the subsequent use of the...

The Development of Fluorescence Intensity Standards.
March 1, 2001... The use of fluorescence as an analytical technique has been growing over the last 20 years. A major factor in inhibiting more rapid growth has been the inability to make comparable fluorescence intensity measurements across laboratories. NIST...

Concrete Mixing Methods and Concrete Mixers: State of the Art.
March 1, 2001... As for all materials, the performance of concrete is determined by its microstructure. Its microstructure is determined by its composition, its curing conditions, and also by the mixing method and mixer conditions used to process the concrete....

Distribution of Link Distances in a Wireless Network.
March 1, 2001... The probability distribution is found for the link distance between two randomly positioned mobile radios in a wireless network for two representative deployment scenarios: (1) the mobile locations are uniformly distributed over a rectangular...

Information Model for Machine-Tool-Performance Tests.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... This report specifics an information model of machine-tool-performance tests in the EXPRESS [1] language. The information model provides a mechanism for describing the properties and results of machine-tool-performance tests. The objective of...

Global and Local Optimization Algorithms for Optimal Signal Set Design.
March 1, 2001... The problem of choosing an optimal signal set for non-Gaussian detection was reduced to a smooth inequality constrained mini-max nonlinear programming prob1cm by Gockenbach and Kearsley. Here we consider the application of several optimization...

Video Transmission for Third Generation Wireless Communication Systems.
March 1, 2001... This paper presents a twin-class unequal protected video transmission system over wireless channels. Video partitioning based on a separation of the Variable Length Coded (VLC) Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients within each block is...

Treasure of the Past VI: Standard Potential of the Silver-Silver-Chloride Electrode from 0[degrees] to 95[degrees] C and the Thermodynamic Properties of Dilute Hydrochloric Acid Solutions.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... From electromotive-force measurements of the cell without liquid junction: Pt; [H.sub.2], HCl (m), AgCl; Ag through the range 0[degrees] to 95[degrees] C, calculations have been made of (1) the standard potential of the...

NIST DEVELOPS RANDOMNESS TESTS FOR RANDOM AND PSEUDORANDOM NUMBER GENERATORS USED IN CRYPTOGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST has developed a suite of 16 tests to check the randomness of binary sequences produced by random or pseudorandom number generators that may be used for many purposes, including cryptographic, modeling, and simulation applications. The...

EUROPEAN ACCEPTANCE OF NIST-RECOMMENDED CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT BODIES (CABs).(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The European Commission has accepted NIST designations of 33 CABs for full operation under the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Telecommunications Equipment annexes of the U.S.-European Union (EU) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA),...

FLAMMABILITY ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR MATTRESSES.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST, with the sponsorship of the Sleep Products Safety Council, recently completed a study of the fire behavior of bed assemblies made up of a mattress, foundation, and bedclothes. The focus was on development and application of a reproducible...

BREAKTHROUGH IN QUESTION-ANSWERING AT THE NINTH TEXT RETRIEVAL CONFERENCE (TREC-9).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... At the NIST-hosted TREC-9, researchers experienced a breakthrough in text retrieval technology that could result in improved products on the Web. In the second running of the Question-Answering track, the goal was to retrieve text snippets...

NEW INSIGHTS INTO WEAR-OUT MECHANISMS OF ULTRA-THIN SILICON DIOXIDE GATE DIELECTRICS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Researchers at NIST have recently completed several extensive experimental investigations of the mechanisms responsible for defect generation and breakdown of thin silicon dioxide films. The results confirm that breakdown is directly related to...

FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE PRODUCTS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Vehicle fires represent approximately one-quarter of the total number of fires responded to by local fire services. For the years from 1989 to 1993, there was an annual average of 425 000 fires in vehicles per year and 32 000 fires in passenger...

NIST HELPS DEMONSTRATE MOBILE-CODE CONTROL.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... On Dec. 6, 2000, researchers at NIST and a private company demonstrated a novel technique for predicting and controlling CPU use by mobile code in the Internet. Once developed further, this breakthrough might ultimately lead to significant...

INTEROPERABLE MPI STANDARD DEMONSTRATED.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The first public demonstration of the Interoperable Message Passing Interface (IMPI) took place at the Supercomputing 2000 (SC'2000) Conference held in Dallas, TX, in November 2000. IMPI is a generalization of the Message Passing Interface...

NIST RESEARCHERS RELEASE PUBLIC-DOMAIN DYNAMIC SOURCE ROUTING MODEL.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In December 2000, at a meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), NIST researchers announced the availability of a validated, public domain OPNET model for the dynamic source routing (DSR) protocol, proposed as one of several...

NIST DEVELOPS PHOTOMETRIC AND COLORIMETRIC STANDARDS FOR LEDS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST has started a new project to investigate and develop measurement methods and standards for photometry and colorimetry of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Since high-intensity blue LEDs have recently become available, the application of LEDs...

NIST PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO MAGNETIC COUPLING THROUGH ANTIFERROMAGNETS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The study of the magnetic coupling between two ferromagnetic films separated by a non-ferromagnetic metallic spacer has been an extremely active and fruitful area of research over the last decade. The interlayer exchange coupling that causes...

NIST GRANTED PATENT FOR A COMPACT COMPRESSOR FOR POLARIZED [He.sup.3] GAS.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... By using optical methods, it is possible to align the magnetic moments of 3He nuclei with an applied magnetic field producing "polarized [He.sup.3] gas." Since its first production about 40 years ago, polarized [He.sup.3] gas has been employed...

SUPERCOOLING AND SUPERHEATING OF VORTEX MATTER.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The behavior of quantized flux lines in type-II superconductors is of critical importance in a variety of high-current applications anticipated for "high temperature" superconductors, such as magnets for medical imaging and power transmission...

PINNING MAGNETIZATION BY A SPECIAL THIN-FILM DEPOSITION TECHNIQUE.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... When materials are deposited onto substrates to make thin films, the usual goal is to produce a smooth deposit. However, recent work at NIST has shown that rough deposits can have some special advantages. In particular, when the incoming flux...

ADVANCES IN PROCESS VISUALIZATION REVEALS NOVEL POLYMER STRUCTURE.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Scientists from NIST have utilized in situ visualization technology to discover novel structures formed during processing of polymer blends. The observations, which will appear in Physical Review Letters, are the consequence of new measurement...

NIST HOSTS METADATA COMMITTEES.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST recently hosted the meeting of two organizations with a focus on metadata descriptions and registries. The ANSI NCITS L8 Metadata Committee had a Special Interest Group and Plenary meeting to discuss progress in standardizing descriptions...

NIST CO-SPONSORS LARGE-SCALE NETWORK RESEARCH PLANNING WORKSHOP.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In March 2001, leading researchers in the field of large-scale networking converged on Washington, DC, to help federal government agencies plan research initiatives for the next 5 years. NIST co-sponsored this workshop with the National Science...

NIST HOSTS TOPIC DETECTION AND TRACKING (TDT) WORKSHOP ON TEXT ORGANIZATION.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST hosted the third annual TDT Evaluation Workshop in November 2000. The workshop involved 30 academic and corporate researchers who participated in the NIST-administered TDT evaluation that occurred during the fall of 2000. The workshop...

NIST HOSTS NCITS STANDARDS COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) ACCOMMODATION.
March 1, 2001... NIST hosted a December meeting of the V2 Technical Committee in the National Committee for Information Technology Standards (NCITS), which is developing standards for IT accommodation for people with disabilities. NCITS develops national...

NIST HOSTS NINTH TEXT RETRIEVAL WORKSHOP (TREC-9).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST hosted the ninth workshop in the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) series at NIST in Gaithersburg in November 2000. Seventy groups representing 17 countries participated in the workshop to discuss the results of a yearlong cycle of testing...

NIST SPONSORS INDUSTRY USABILITY REPORTING WORKSHOP.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... With industry participation, NIST developed a Common Industry Format (CIF) for Usability Test Reports to provide a means for usability engineers to report results of their usability testing. In November 2000, NIST sponsored the 4th Industry...

NIST CO-HOSTS INTERNATIONAL LABORATORY ACCREDITATION COOPERATION (ILAC) 2000.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST was a co-host and active participant in the ILAC 2000 General Assembly held in October 2000, in Arlington, VA. ILAC is the worlds principal international forum for the development of laboratory accreditation practices and procedures, the...

NIST HOSTS TRAINING SESSION ON MEASUREnet-GOV SYSTEM.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In Nov. 17, 2000, an Oklahoma state metrologist, conducted a training session on Youden Chart Analysis of Round-Robin Data on the MEASUREnet-gov system, an Internet-based interactive video conferencing system that was established by NIST to aid...

KEEPING TABS ON THE SITE WITH LASER LIGHT.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Greater than 5 % of the labor costs in a typical construction project are devoted to monitoring the status of activities such as the state of excavation, the location of building materials (such as gravel and structural steel), re-work (fixing...

POLISH UP YOUR GLOSS MEASUREMENTS AT NIST.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The glossy surface on a shiny new car is more than just eye candy--in car paints, for example, the quality of the gloss tends to correlate with the durability of the finish. Shine, or properly "specular gloss," is the perception of a...

TESTS CERTIFY "SMART" BUILDING PRODUCTS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Digital automation and control technologies have been widely available for more than a decade, yet structures with integrated building services remain more of a promise than a reality. That is, until now. At a recent NIST workshop,...

NEW BOOK, WEB SITE CAN HELP MEDIA FEATURE NIST AT 100.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Consider some of the economy-building, life-improving advances of the past 100 years--image processing, DNA diagnostic "chips," smoke detectors, automated error-correcting software for machine tools, atomic clocks, the scanning tunneling...

NIST REFERENCE IMPLEMENTATION TO BE USED THROUGHOUT VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Thc Veterans Health Administration (VHA) selected NIST's Enterprise Single Sign On (ESSO) reference implementation for use within VHA hospitals. NIST developed ESSO in response to the need within VHA for a single logon to all of their hospital...

CALIBRATION STANDARDS FOR DETERMINATION OF MOLECULAR MASS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST certified three new polyethylene standards for calibration and performance evaluation of size exclusion chromatographs. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is the most convenient and widely used method for determining the mass distribution...

KEY NIST CONTRIBUTIONS RESULT IN DEPLOYMENT OF NEW E-COMMERCE STANDARDS SUPPORTING ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Standards resulting from NIST's technical and leadership contributions in support of electronics manufacturing recently have been deployed in industry, as evidenced at the IPC APEX trade show in San Diego in January. Four vendor booths...

NIST'S TEST TOOLS FOR INTERNET TELEPHONY WILL HELP INDUSTRY CONVERGE DISJOINT APPLICATIONS.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST recently released NIST SIP VO.9, the first component in a planned suite of instrumented protocols and related test tools intended to serve the emerging Internet telephony industry. In its initial release, NIST SIP provides a reference...

ELECTRODEPOSITED Pb-FREE SOLDER AND WHISKER PREVENTION.
March 1, 2001... A technology important to electronics manufacturing is the electrodeposition of Sn-based protective coatings to guarantee solderability. It has been known for many years that the use of pure Sn as a protective coating on copper and copper...

CHARACTERIZING NANOSCOPIC DISORDER USING QUANTUM MOLECULAR TOPS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Researchers at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) have recently carried out the first U.S. studies by cold neutron spectroscopy of molecular disorder induced by nanoscale confinement. In this work inelastic neutron scattering was used...

IMPROVING CRYSTAL RESONATORS WITH NEW MATERIALS.
March 1, 2001... Accurate time and frequency standards depend critically on crystal resonators made of quartz because this material has extremely low internal dissipation of mechanical energy. This dissipation is measured by the Q of the resonator which is...

NEURAL NETWORK TECHNIQUE USED FOR MODELING NONLINEAR ERROR DATA.
March 1, 2001... Researchers at NIST have developed a new technique for modeling nonlinear error data that can reduce the amount of testing that a linear model would require. This technique can also be used to predict the errors over a full set of test points,...

VERY LOW-NOISE SINGLE ELECTRON TUNNELING TRANSISTORS.
March 1, 2001... A team of NIST scientists, in collaboration with workers at NTT (Nippon Telephone and Telegraph) in Japan, have confirmed extremely low noise in Si-based single-electron tunneling (SET) transistors. SET devices allow the measurement or...

100 mV PEAK OUTPUT DEMONSTRATED FOR THE JOSEPHSON WAVEFORM SYNTHESIZER.
March 1, 2001... For the first time NIST has been able to synthesize waveforms with peak output voltages exceeding 100 mV using the Josephson waveform synthesizer. This two-times increase in voltage was possible by summing the output voltage of two...

NEW X-RAY ABSORPTION TECHNIQUE TO STUDY CONCRETE.
March 1, 2001... The amount and movement of water in the microstructure of concrete controls the material properties. The ability to measure the presence and movement of water in concrete and other porous materials has recently been greatly enhanced using an...

NIST DEVELOPS NEW FORM OF NEUTRON RADIOGRAPHY PROVIDING FINE INTERNAL DETAILS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Physicists from NIST and the University of Melbourne, Australia, have recently demonstrated for the first time a novel neutron phase-contrast imaging technique without the usual requirement of an interferometer. This form of phase-contrast...

COMPACT FREQUENCY STANDARD DRIVEN BY A DIODE LASER DEVELOPED BY NIST.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In recent work at NIST Boulder, researchers have developed a small, 4.6 GHz frequency standard using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that pumps a cesium atomic vapor in a small cell structure. Design information developed in...

AN OPTICAL-FIBER NETWORK FOR FREQUENCY COMPARISONS ESTABLISHED IN BOULDER.
March 1, 2001... In a joint program with the city of Boulder, the Department of Commerce, the University of Colorado (UC), and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, an optical-fiber network--BRAN (Boulder Research and Administrative Network)--has been...

STICK-SLIP MOTION OF A STRESSED COULOMB CRYSTAL OBSERVED BY NIST SCIENTISTS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST scientists in collaboration with the University of California at San Diego, have recently identified earthquake-like disturbances in what had previously been considered to be stable nonneutral-plasma crystals. Such a crystal, confined in a...

DETERMINATION OF THE RELATIVISTIC RED SHIFT BY NIST IN BOULDER.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In a recently completed project, involving a NIST researcher, the relativistic red shift correction due to gravity was estimated with a relative uncertainty of 2 x [10.sup.-17]. An accurate estimate of the relativistic red shift is an important...

NIST PERFORMS COMPARISON OF FREQUENCY STANDARDS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A post-processed time scale, involving an ensemble of five hydrogen masers, has been developed by a NIST scientist in Boulder to serve as a reference for comparing primary frequency standards. During the last 2 years, this time scale has been...

NIST SCIENTISTS DEVELOP DECOHERENCE-RESISTANT QUANTUM MEMORY USING TRAPPED IONS.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST scientists in Boulder have recently demonstrated operation of a decoherence-free quantum memory using trapped ions. A quantum memory stores information in superposition states of a collection of two-level systems called "qubits." Quantum...

TEST OF BELL'S INEQUALITIES USING TRAPPED IONS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In experiments using trapped, laser-cooled ions, NIST researchers in Boulder have demonstrated a violation of Bell's inequalities. These mathematical inequalities provide a basis for experimental tests whose results can distinguish between...

SOLAR CELL ELECTRON TRANSFER DYNAMICS MEASURED BY NIST SCIENTISTS.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Inexpensive solar-to-electric energy converters based on organometallic dyes impregnated on nanoparticle substrates of titanium dioxide ([TiO.sub.2]) and other related semiconductors are being explored as replacements for silicon-based solar...

NIST DEVELOPS BENCHMARKING WEB SITE USABILITY METHODOLOGIES (CIFter).(National Institute of Standards and Technology, common industry format for testing usability evaluation reports)
March 1, 2001... NIST is developing methodologies to measure the usability of Web sites. Empirical evidence from research and commercial sources indicates that Web sites suffer from a lack of usability. Measuring usability of Web sites is more complicated than...

NIST RESEARCHERS DEMONSTRATE SOFTWARE TO MODEL FAULT RECOVERY IN OPTICAL NETWORKS.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In January 2001, at a meeting of principal investigators held by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NIST researchers demonstrated MERLiN, a software tool for modeling fault recovery algorithms in optical networks. The...

NIST DEVELOPS DATA LIBRARIES FOR AIRFLOW MODELING.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST has developed databases for use in multizone airflow modeling, such as that performed with the NIST-developed airflow and indoor air quality simulation program CONTAMW. Multizone airflow and indoor quality models enable the analysis of...

DESIGNER CHANNELS FOR MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES.
March 1, 2001... NIST scientists are using ultrathin polymer layers, polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs), to control fluid flow in microfluidic devices. Microfluidic, or so-called "lab-on-a-chip," devices are miniaturized chemical and biochemical analysis...

PREDICTION OF THE ATMOSPHERIC LIFETIMES OF HALON REPLACEMENTS.
March 1, 2001... Scientists at NIST have developed a new technology to allow a reliable estimation of the atmospheric lifetimes of halon replacements based on ab initio quantum mechanical calculations. The potential suitability of new industrial compounds...

NIST/FIZ-KARLSRUHE PARTNERSHIP TO IMPROVE THE INORGANIC CRYSTAL STRUCTURE DATABASE FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH.
March 1, 2001... The materials research community uses crystallo-graphic data models on a daily basis to visualize, explain, and predict the behavior of chemicals and materials. Access to reliable information on the structure of crystalline materials helps...

NIST HOSTS RTP 2000 AND RELATED WORKSHOP.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... RTP 2000: The 8th International Conference on Advanced Processing of Semiconductors was held in Gaithersburg, MD in September 2000. NIST was a co-sponsor. Presentations by NIST staff included talks on calibration of light-pipe radiation...

NIST DIGITAL CINEMA 2001 CONFERENCE DRAWS INDUSTRY TO DISCUSS STANDARDS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In January 2001, NIST and the National Information Standards Organization co-sponsored the NIST Digital Cinema 2001 Conference and Show. Held at NIST, the meeting attracted over 200 participants and exhibitors for this new technology. The goals...

NIST HOSTS MPEG WEB SITE.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... As of Dec. 15, 2000, the Information Access Division is hosting the online Web site for the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) of the International Organization for Standards (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). ...

MMD HOSTS SMART SENSOR INDUSTRY WORKSHOP.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST recently hosted an industry workshop cosponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) on Built-in-Test (BIT) Technology for Smart Sensors and Systems. The concepts of built-in-test and self-test are widely...

JUST A PHASE? BETTER NEUTRON ANALYSIS WITH LOWER RADIATION.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Researchers from NIST, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Missouri at Columbia have demonstrated a new form of neutron radiography that produces greatly enhanced images of fine structural details in test samples with relatively...

NIST, ANSI REAFFIRM PARTNERSHIP FOR U.S. STANDARDS SUCCESS.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In one of the first acts in the implementation of the recently established National Standards Strategy (NSS), NIST and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) signed a revised version of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)(first...

NIST/INDUSTRY CONSORTIUM TO TACKLE COMPLEX POLYMER INTERPHASES.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The non-stick coating on a frying pan, the coat of paint on a car bumper and the multiple layers of fibers and polymers in a tire--what keeps them together? In all three cases, it's the interface region or interphase, the area where the...

NEW VERSION OF CHARPY MACHINE GUIDE IS NOW AVAILABLE.
March 1, 2001... 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...

SHORT COURSE ON RADIATION THERMOMETER MEASUREMENT OFFERED.
March 1, 2001... 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...

SET FOR FUNDAMENTAL MEASUREMENTS IN ELECTRICITY EXPLAINED.
March 1, 2001... 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...

NIST DATA FACILITATE MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT FOR NEXT GENERATION IC CHIP.
March 1, 2001... Data provided by NIST have been used to facilitate development of new interlevel dielectric (ILD) films for next-generation integrated circuit (IC) chips. The drive toward increased density, enhanced performance and cost effectiveness in IC...

NIST PERFORMS FIRST MEASUREMENTS OF THE EFFECT OF STRESS ON THE REFRACTIVE INDEX OF MATERIALS IN THE VACUUM ULTRAVIOLET.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The semiconductor industry is presently developing a new technology known as 157 nm lithography for producing faster integrated circuits by further shrinking circuit critical feature sizes down to at least 70 nm. This technology is based on...

NON-LINEAR NETWORK ANALYSIS FACILITY ESTABLISHED.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST researchers have established a new non-linear network analysis facility for the study of radio-frequency and microwave networks used in commercial wireless communication systems. With the commercialization of digital wireless communication...

NEW EXCIMER LASER MEASUREMENT SERVICES AT NIST.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NIST recently has developed the capability to accurately measure pulse-energy density of deep ultraviolet (DUV) radiation produced by excimer lasers. This new capability now is being used to provide dose (i.e., energy density) measurement...

COORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE STREAMLINES DIAMETER MEASUREMENTS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In an effort to streamline calibration of diameter standards, NIST researchers have carried out a careful investigation of the uncertainty of diameter measurements using their Coordinate Measuring Machine. They find that they can achieve...

CALIBRATION OF TRANSFER IONIZATION CHAMBERS FOR SHORT-LIVED RADIONUCLIDES USED IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE DEVELOPED BY NIST.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... One of the properties that makes most of the nuclides used in nuclear medicine so attractive for that purpose -- their short half-life--has the drawback of making it impractical to distribute these nuclides as Standard Reference Materials....

NIST DEVELOPING OPTICAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR ASSESSING STRUCTURES OF CHIRAL MOLECULES.(National Institute of Standards and Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Many organic compounds exist in two identical chemical structures that are mirror images of each other--a characteristic called chirality. In particular, a number of pharmaceuticals are chiral, and while one "enantiomer" may have beneficial...

A NEW "TWIST" ON NEUTRON REFLECTOMETRY: IMAGING EXCHANGE-SPRING MAGNETS.
March 1, 2001... Scientists of the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) have developed a new method of using polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) to extract the structure of buried magnetic spirals in magnetic films. This technique improves upon earlier...

NIST LEADS EFFORT TO UPDATE AND STANDARDIZE CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
March 1, 2001... Under the auspices of the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), NIST hosted an Information Assurance Technology Framework Forum on system certification and accreditation in January 2001. The forum brought together more than 450...

PUBLICATION OF CHARACTERIZATION AND METROLOGY FOR ULSI TECHNOLOGY: 2000 (AIP CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 550).(Review)
March 1, 2001... Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology: 2000, containing the proceedings for the June 2000 International Conference on Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology, was published in February 2001. The book was compiled by...

MASS METROLOGY TRAINING SEMINAR.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Two NIST scientists gave a 2 day seminar on mass measurements at the Measurement Science Conference held in Anaheim, CA. The seminar covered the basics of mass measurements, air buoyancy corrections, cleaning and handling procedures, various...