A Gas Pressure Scale Based on Primary Standard Piston Gauges

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has redefined its gas pressure scale, up to 17 MPa, based on two primary standard piston gauges. The primary standard piston gauges are 35.8 mm in diameter and operate from 20 kPa to 1 MPa. Ten secondary standard piston gauges, two each of five series of the Ruska 2465 type, with successively smaller diameters form the scale extending up to 17 MPa. Six of the piston gauges were directly compared to the primary standards to determine their effective area and expanded (k = 2) uncertainty. Two piston gauges operating to 7 MPa were compared to the 1.4 MPa gauges, and two piston gauges operating to 17 MPa were compared to the 7 MPa gauges. Distortion in the 7 MPa piston gauges was determined by comparing those gauges to a DH Instruments PG7601 type piston gauge, whose distortion was calculated using elasticity theory. The relative standard uncertainties achieved by the primary standards range from 3.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 3.2 × 10⁻⁶. The relative standard uncertainty of the secondary standards is as low as 4.2 × 10⁻⁶ at 300 kPa. The effective areas and uncertainties were validated by comparison to standards of other National Metrology Institutes (NMIs). Results show agreement in all cases to better than the expanded (k = 2) uncertainty of the difference between NIST and the other NMIs, and in most cases to better than the standard (k = 1) uncertainty of the difference.     

基于囚禁离子的微波频标研究进展

微波频标在卫星导航、精密计量、电力、通信等众多领域得到广泛应用,发挥了不可或缺的重要作用。近些年,国际上多家科研单位都在开展新型微波频标的研究,其中基于囚禁离子的微波频标具有高性能和小型化等优势,成为倍受关注的新一代微波频标。本文综述了离子阱微波频标的国内外研究现状,介绍了Penning阱和Paul阱两种常见离子阱的工作原理,以及¹⁹⁹Hg⁺,¹¹³Cd⁺,¹⁷¹Yb⁺等离子微波频标的研究动机、应用领域、技术方案和实现的技术指标。最后,本文对离子阱微波钟在守时钟、星载钟等方面的应用前景进行了展望。     

Two Primary Standards for Low Flows of Gases

We describe two primary standards for gas flow in the range from 0.1 to 1000 μmol/s. (1 μmol/s ≅ 1.3 cm³/min at 0 °C and 1 atmosphere.) The first standard is a volumetric technique in which measurements of pressure, volume, temperature, and time are recorded while gas flows in or out of a stainless steel bellows at constant pressure. The second standard is a gravimetric technique. A small aluminum pressure cylinder supplies gas to a laminar flow meter, and the integrated throughput of the laminar flow meter is compared to the weight decrease of the cylinder. The two standards, which have standard uncertainties of 0.019 %, agree to within combined uncertainties with each other and with a third primary standard at NIST based on pressure measurements at constant volume.     

Standard basis of the State Service for Time and Frequency of Russia

The structure of the standard time and frequency basis of the State Service for Time and Frequency (SSTF) of Russia is described. Information is given for the equipment make-up for the state primary standard of time and frequency (STFS) of the Russian Federation and secondary standards (SS) of the STFS. The most important metrological characteristics of the STFS and SS are provided.Translated from Izmeritelnaya Tekhnika, No. 1, pp. 12–18, January, 2005     

Details of the 1998 Watt Balance Experiment Determining the Planck Constant

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) watt balance experiment completed a determination of Planck constant in 1998 with a relative standard uncertainty of 87 × 10⁻⁹ (k = 1), concurrently with an upper limit on the drift rate of the SI kilogram mass standard. A number of other fundamental physical constants with uncertainties dominated by this result are also calculated. This paper focuses on the details of the balance apparatus, the measurement and control procedures, and the reference calibrations. The alignment procedures are also described, as is a novel mutual inductance measurement procedure. The analysis summary discusses the data noise sources and estimates for the Type B uncertainty contributions to the uncertainty budget. Much of this detail, some historical progression, and a few recent findings have not been included in previous papers reporting the results of this experiment.     

An Optical Frequency Comb Tied to GPS for Laser Frequency/Wavelength Calibration

Optical frequency combs can be employed over a broad spectral range to calibrate laser frequency or vacuum wavelength. This article describes procedures and techniques utilized in the Precision Engineering Division of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) for comb-based calibration of laser wavelength, including a discussion of ancillary measurements such as determining the mode order. The underlying purpose of these calibrations is to provide traceable standards in support of length measurement. The relative uncertainty needed to fulfill this goal is typically 10⁻⁸ and never below 10⁻¹², very modest requirements compared to the capabilities of comb-based frequency metrology. In this accuracy range the Global Positioning System (GPS) serves as an excellent frequency reference that can provide the traceable underpinning of the measurement. This article describes techniques that can be used to completely characterize measurement errors in a GPS-based comb system and thus achieve full confidence in measurement results.     

An Easy-To-Use Combination Four-Terminal-Pair/Two-Terminal-Pair AC Transformer Bridge

A new four-terminal-pair bridge, capable of achieving a relative standard uncertainty of 1×10⁻⁹, was constructed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology by converting a two-terminal-pair bridge. The conversion requires only the addition of components which are easily removed if two-terminal-pair measurements are to be made. The design and testing of this bridge is described. The new four-terminal-pair bridge requires fewer auxiliary balances than the present four-terminal-pair bridge employed at NIST, which makes it much easier to use. This new design can be used to compare capacitance, resistance, and inductance standards.     

Standardization of 68Ge/68Ga Using Three Liquid Scintillation Counting Based Methods

A solution containing ⁶⁸Ge in equilibrium with its daughter, ⁶⁸Ga, has been standardized for the first time at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) using 3 liquid scintillation-based techniques: live-timed 4πβ -γ anticoincidence (LTAC) counting, the Triple-to-Double Coincidence Ratio (TDCR) method, and ³H-standard efficiency tracing with the CIEMAT¹/NIST (CNET) method. The LTAC technique is much less dependent on level scheme data and model-dependent parameters and was thus able to provide a reference activity concentration value for the master solution with a combined standard uncertainty of about 0.3 %. The other two methods gave activity concentration values with respective differences from the reference value of +1.2 % and −1.5 %, which were still within the experimental uncertainties. Measurements made on the NIST “4π”γ secondary standard ionization chamber allowed for the determination of calibration factors for that instrument, allowing future calibrations to be made for ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga without the need for a primary measurement. The ability to produce standardized solutions of ⁶⁸Ge presents opportunities for the development of a number of NIST-traceable calibration sources with very low (<1 %) relative standard uncertainties that can be used in diagnostic medical imaging.     

一种小型化铷原子频标腔泡系统及其频移特性

介绍一种新的小型铷频标腔泡系统的结构特点和频移特性。研究了腔牵引效应、微波功率频移、光频移和缓冲气体温度系数对铷频标输出频率的影响。结果表明,上述因素影响都在可以接受的范围内。此腔泡系统体积小、信噪比高、参数优化方便。利用此腔泡系统可以制成小型化、高性能的铷原子频标。     

Uncertainty in NIST Force Measurements

This paper focuses upon the uncertainty of force calibration measurements at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The uncertainty of the realization of force for the national deadweight force standards at NIST is discussed, as well as the uncertainties associated with NIST’s voltage-ratio measuring instruments and with the characteristics of transducers being calibrated. The combined uncertainty is related to the uncertainty of dissemination for force transfer standards sent to NIST for calibration.     

A Primary Dead-Weight Tester for Pressures (0.05–1.0) MPa

Recent advances in technology on two fronts, 1) the fabrication of large-diameter pistons and cylinders with good geometry, and 2) the ability to measure the dimensions of these components with high accuracy, have allowed dead-weight testers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to generate pressures that approach total relative uncertainties previously obtained only by manometers. This paper describes a 35 mm diameter piston/cylinder assembly (known within NIST as PG-39) that serves as a pressure standard in which both the piston and the cylinder have been accurately dimensioned by Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). Both artifacts (piston and cylinder) appeared to be round within ±30 nm and straight within ±100 nm over a substantial fraction of their heights. Based on the diameters at 20 °C provided by PTB (±15 nm) and on the good geometry of the artifact, the relative uncertainties for the effective area were estimated to be about 2.2 × 10⁻⁶ (1σ).     

Accuracy of Nanoscale Pitch Standards Fabricated by Laser-Focused Atomic Deposition

The pitch accuracy of a grating formed by laser-focused atomic deposition is evaluated from the point of view of fabricating nanoscale pitch standard artifacts. The average pitch obtained by the process, nominally half the laser wavelength, is simply traceable with small uncertainty to an atomic frequency and hence can be known with very high accuracy. An error budget is presented for a Cr on sapphire sample, showing that a combined standard uncertainty of 0.0049 nm, or a relative uncertainty of 2.3 × 10⁻⁵, is readily obtained, provided the substrate temperature does not change. Precision measurements of the diffraction of the 351.1 nm argon ion laser line from such an artifact are also presented. These yield an average pitch of (212.7777 ± 0.0069) nm, which agrees well with the expected value, as corrected for thermal contraction, of (212.7705 ± 0.0049) nm.     

铯束原子频率标准装置测量不确定度的分析

时间计量已经广泛地用于现代科学技术的各个方面,并且用于对其它物理量的间接测量之中,因而作为时间频率量值传递系统中的一级频标——铯束原子频率标准不确定度分析就显的尤为重要。本文介绍了用铯束原子频率标准装置测量不确定度的评定过程,并给出了计算过程及表达方式。     

Reducing the Uncertainty of Industrial Trace Humidity Generators through NIST Permeation-Tube Calibration

Permeation-tube moisture generators (PTGs) are commonly used by the semiconductor industry as transfer standards for the calibration of hygrometer systems measuring trace amounts of water vapor in gases (water vapor mole fractions typically below 1 × 10⁻⁶). They are relatively simple devices that generate a steady stream of humidified gas by diluting water vapor delivered at a constant rate from a permeable capsule with precisely metered purified gas, usually nitrogen. Here a new calibration service enabling the measurement of PTG permeation rates directly in terms of NIST primary standards of trace humidity generation is described. Rather than using commonly employed gravimetric methods for permeation-tube calibration, the method applied here links the permeation rate of the permeation tube to the thermodynamic properties of ice. Using a hygrometer based on cavity ringdown spectroscopy, we compare the water vapor concentrations produced by the NIST low frost-point generator (LFPG) and a specially constructed PTG containing the permeation tube undergoing calibration. A least squares fit of the data determines the permeation rate of the tube under test. We describe the calibration system, experimental procedure and present sample calibration data. The expanded relative uncertainty of NIST permeation-tube calibrations is 1.8% with a coverage factor k = 2, dominated by the Type A uncertainties.     

Photocurrent Measurement of PC and PV HgCdTe Detectors

Novel preamplifiers for working standard photoconductive (PC) and photovoltaic (PV) HgCdTe detectors have been developed to maintain the spectral responsivity scale of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the wavelength range of 5 μm to 20 μm. The linear PC mode preamplifier does not need any compensating source to zero the effect of the detector bias current for the preamplifier output. The impedance multiplication concept with a positive feedback buffer amplifier was analyzed and utilized in a bootstrap PV transimpedance amplifier to measure photocurrent of a 200 Ω shunt resistance photodiode with a maximum signal gain of 10⁸ V/A. In spite of the high performance lock-in used as a second-stage signal-amplifier, the signal-to-noise ratio had to be optimized for the output of the photocurrent preamplifiers. Noise and drift were equalized for the output of the PV mode preamplifier. The signal gain errors were calculated to determine the signal frequency range where photocurrent-to-voltage conversion can be performed with very low uncertainties. For the design of both PC and PV detector preamplifiers, the most important gain equations are described. Measurement results on signal ranges and noise performance are discussed.     

An International Marine-Atmospheric 222Rn Measurement Intercomparison in Bermuda Part I: NIST Calibration and Methodology for Standardized Sample Additions

As part of an international ²²²Rn measurement intercomparison conducted at Bermuda in October 1991, NIST provided standardized sample additions of known, but undisclosed (“blind”) ²²²Rn concentrations that could be related to U.S. national standards. The standardized sample additions were obtained with a calibrated ²²⁶Ra source and a specially-designed manifold used to obtain well-known dilution factors from simultaneous flow-rate measurements. The additions were introduced over sampling periods of several hours (typically 4 h) into a common streamline on a sampling tower used by the participating laboratories for their measurements. The standardized ²²²Rn activity concentrations for the intercomparison ranged from approximately 2.5 Bq · m⁻³ to 35 Bq · m⁻³ (of which the lower end of this range approached concentration levels for ambient Bermudian air) and had overall uncertainties, approximating a 3 standard deviation uncertainty interval, of about 6 % to 13 %. This paper describes the calibration and methodology for the standardized sample additions.     

Irradiance of Horizontal Quartz-Halogen Standard Lamps

Spectral irradiance calibrations often require that irradiance standard lamps be oriented differently than the normal calibration orientation used at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and at other standards laboratories. For example, in solar measurements the instruments are generally upward viewing, requiring horizontal working standards for minimization of irradiance calibration uncertainties. To develop a working standard for use in a solar ultraviolet intercomparison, NIST determined the irradiance of quartz-halogen lamps operating in the horizontal position, rather than in the customary vertical position. An experimental technique was developed which relied upon equivalent lamps with independent mounts for each orientation and a spectroradiometer with an integrating sphere whose entrance port could be rotated 90° to view either lamp position. The results presented here are limited to 1000 W quartz-halogen type lamps at ultraviolet wavelengths from 280 nm to 400 nm. Sources of uncertainty arose from the lamps, the spectroradiometer, and the lamp alignment, and increased the uncertainty in the irradiance of horizontal lamps by less than a factor of two from that of vertical NIST standard lamps. The irradiance of horizontal lamps was less than that of vertical lamps by approximately 6 % at long wavelengths (400 nm) to as much as 12 % at the shortest wavelengths (280 nm). Using the Wien radiation law, this corresponds to color temperature differences of 15.7 K and 21.3 K for lamps with clear and frosted envelopes, respectively.     

Long-Term Stability of the NIST Standard Ultrasonic Source

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Ultrasonic Source (SUS) is a system comprising a transducer capable of output power levels up to 1 W at multiple frequencies between 1 MHz and 30 MHz, and an electrical impedance-matching network that allows the system to be driven by a conventional 50 Ω rf (radio-frequency) source. It is designed to allow interlaboratory replication of ultrasonic power levels with high accuracy using inexpensive readily available ancillary equipment.The SUS was offered for sale for 14 years (1985 to 1999). Each system was furnished with data for the set of calibration points (combinations of power level and frequency) specified by the customer. Of the systems that had been ordered with some calibration points in common, three were returned more than once to NIST for recalibration. Another system retained at NIST has been recalibrated periodically since 1984. The collective data for these systems comprise 9 calibration points and 102 measurements spanning a 17 year interval ending in 2001, the last year NIST ultrasonic power measurement services were available to the public.These data have been analyzed to compare variations in output power with frequency, power level, and time elapsed since the first calibration. The results verify the claim, made in the instruction sheet furnished with every SUS, that “long-term drift, if any, in the calibration of NIST Standard Sources is insignificant compared to the uncertainties associated with a single measurement of ultrasonic power by any method available at NIST.”     

用于原子重力仪的扫频频率源系统

原子重力测量实验中,需要通过扫频频率源来实现主从Raman激光的线性啁啾,进而补偿原子在自由下落过程中产生的多普勒频移,实现当地重力加速度g的测量。针对传统扫频频率源体积大、发热量大的问题,通过AD9959数字芯片设计了一款扫频频率源,可用作原子喷泉扫频控制和Raman光锁相环鉴频鉴相本振参考。最终通过实验测得：该扫频信号源的相位噪声为-112 dB@1 kHz,频率稳定度为1.38×10^-11@1 s,对原子重力仪灵敏度影响为2.81×10^-9 g/Hz^1/2,600 s积分时间对原子重力仪实验影响为1.15×10^-10 g。该系统具有低噪声、高稳定度的特点,可满足搬运式原子重力仪分辨力10^-10 g需求。研究结果为原子重力仪从原理样机向工程化可搬运实验测试仪器发展提供了一定参考。