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Standards
SIMnet Launched to
Foster Free Trade in Americas
When Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492,
his goal was to open up trade with the New World. Today, the countries of that New
World--the Americas--are starting out on a new trade journey, one that promises
unrestricted flow of goods and services among themselves. On Dec. 4, 1998, at NIST's
Gaithersburg, Md., headquarters, a step toward realizing that goal occurred with the
inauguration of SIMnet,
an Internet-based, interactive system for metrology collaboration in the Western
Hemisphere.
SIMnet will support real-time
comparisons of measurements performed at laboratories throughout the 34 nations that make
up the Interamerican System of Metrology (known by its Spanish abbreviation of SIM). SIM's
efforts, soon to be enhanced by a fully operational SIMnet, are critical to increasing
cooperation in science and technology, eliminating technical barriers to trade and
establishing the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (envisioned to extend from
Alaska to Tierra del Fuego) by 2005.
Organized by NIST and conducted
under the auspices of SIM, SIMnet will be pilot tested in a 12-nation intercomparison of
high-precision digital multimeters. Participating nations are Argentina, Brazil, Canada,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, the United
States, and Uruguay.
For more information, contact B. Stephen
Carpenter, NIST, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop 1090, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-1090, (301)
975-4119.
Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776 
Quality
April 1999
Conference to Showcase 1998 Baldrige Winners
The 1998 recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award--Boeing
Airlift and Tanker Programs, Long Beach, Calif.; Solar Turbines Inc., San Diego, Calif.;
and Texas Nameplate Co. Inc., Dallas, Texas--will present details of their exceptional
business practices at the Quest
for Excellence XI conference. Presentations covering all seven categories of the Baldrige Award criteria
will be made by the CEOs and others in the winning companies.
The conference takes place April
25-28, 1999, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C. The registration fee is
$795 if postmarked by March 25, 1999. After that date, the fee will be $895. For further
information or to obtain a conference brochure, contact the Baldrige National Quality
Program at (301) 975-2036. To register for QE XI, contact the American Society for
Quality, (800) 248-1946, fax: (414) 272-1734, asq@asq.org.
Information on the 1998 Baldrige
Award recipients and the Baldrige National Quality Program is available on the World Wide
Web at www.quality.nist.gov.
Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767
Year 2000
Updated FIPS Links
Federal, Private-Sector Date Standards
NIST recently updated the Federal
Information Processing Standard that details how to represent calendar dates in
information processing systems. Renamed FIPS PUB 4-2, the revised standard still specifies
the use of a four-digit date format to represent the calendar year but brings the former
FIPS PUB 4-1 in line with the date standard developed by the private sector and approved
by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Standard X3.30-1997). The federal
government uses voluntary industry standards whenever possible.
FIPS PUB 4-2 also incorporates a
number of editorial changes to FIPS PUB 4-1.
The original FIPS on calendar
date representation was published in 1988 and updated in 1996 to recommend that the
federal government use the four-digit date format to prepare its systems to handle dates
after Jan. 1, 2000. The year 2000, or Y2K, problem
refers to the failure of a computer program or system because the "00" year
designation is mistaken for "1900."
Federal agencies use FIPS to
guide decision making related to the purchase of computer equipment and services. Some
private-sector organizations voluntarily adopt them as well.
A copy of FIPS PUB 4-2 is
available in electronic form at www.nist.gov/y2k/fips4-2.htm.
Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661
Semiconductors
New Technique
May Improve Gallium-Arsenide Wafers
Gallium-arsenide-based semiconductors
promise to fill a vital role in various defense and commercial applications. However,
because they frequently combine layers of more than one element, they are more expensive
and difficult to fabricate than silicon-based semiconductors.
A 3-inch processed wafer costs as
much as $4,000. To reduce costs and improve performance, industry needs a method to assess
wafer composition during production. Such a real-time analysis would reveal flawed wafers
long before the investment in expensive post-growth processing is made.
NIST scientists have adapted a
well established measurement technique, electron beam induced X-ray emission, to observe
the composition of gallium-arsenide-based semiconductor wafers as they are being grown.
The technique can detect layers down to five monolayers thick as they are being sprayed
onto wafers.
The X-ray measurement works by
hitting the surface of a wafer, at glancing angles, with beams of electrons, stimulating
atoms to emit characteristic X-ray signatures. The X-rays then are counted with a detector
that features a novel design: it includes an outer window that is heated to 400 degrees
Celsius, preventing arsenic from coating and obscuring the detector.
The research will be discussed in
a scientific paper appearing in the Dec. 12 issue of Applied Physics Letters.
For more information, contact Joseph G.
Pellegrino, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8121, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8121, (301)
975-2123.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Chemistry
'Hot' New Steam
Tables Available from NIST
Scientists and others interested in the
thermodynamic properties of water will be interested in a new set of "steam
tables" from NIST. Tables are provided for the density, enthalpy, entropy, and volume
of water and steam calculated from the International Association for the Properties of
Water and Steam Formulation 1995 for the Thermodynamic Properties of Ordinary Water
Substance for General and Scientific Use. The properties are given for vapor-liquid
equilibrium conditions at specified temperatures and at specified pressures, and for
single-phase states as a function of temperature and pressure.
While users who need high
accuracy for scientific research or industrial design should use software that implements
the formulation, the printed tables still are needed for quick estimates or when computers
are not available. The previous volume containing such tables is outdated.
To obtain copies of the steam
tables in NIST Interagency Report 5078, contact Allan H.
Harvey, NIST, Boulder, Colo. 80303, (303) 497-3555.
Media Contact:
Fred McGehan (Boulder), (301) 975-3246
Electronics
Laser Diode
Produces Light Pulses Every Half-Picosecond
American industry currently markets digital
sampling oscilloscopes--with input signal bandwidths of up to 50 gigahertz--that are
capable of testing ultrafast electronic equipment and circuits. To ensure proper function
of these oscilloscopes, a rigorous method is needed to test their dynamic response. Such
calibration work, however, requires a device that produces a smooth pulse of electricity
lasting only one trillionth of a second (one picosecond)--an extremely difficult task.
NIST scientists recently
developed a system in which an ultrafast laser generates optical pulses having smooth
waveshapes and then converts these laser pulses into corresponding electrical pulses using
newly developed photoconductors (materials that conduct electricity when exposed to
light). Because there is typically a short response time in the conversion from light to
electricity, the laser pulse width actually has to be shorter than a picosecond.
The researchers' next goal is to
develop photoconductors and associated circuitry capable of turning the
half-picosecond-wide optical pulses into corresponding picosecond-wide electrical pulses.
This is about 10 times faster than possible with available U.S. commercial pulse generator
technology.
For technical information,
contact Barry
Bell, NIST, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop 8111, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8111, (301) 975-2419.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Metric
New Guide
Prevents Being Pound (Foot, Gallon and ...) Foolish
A new guide for proper interpretation of
metric units of measure and federal metric conversion policy is now available from NIST.
The new guide, Interpretation of the SI for the United States and Federal Government
Metric Conversion Policy (NIST Special Publication 814), reflects changes in the
number of units with special names and symbols in the International System of Units (known
by its French abbreviation of SI). The new publication, which updates a 1991 edition of
NIST SP 814, includes a chart showing the relationship of the seven SI base units (meter,
kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole and candela) and SI derived units (such as the
joule, watt and volt).
The new guide also includes the
Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended in 1988, 1995 and 1996. NIST coordinates federal
government policy on metric conversion for federal agencies and on the use of the metric
system by U.S. industry.
More information on SI units is
available at http://physics.nist.gov/cuu. SP 814
is available from the NIST Inquiries Office by calling (301) 975-NIST (6478), faxing a
request to (301) 926-1630 or sending e-mail to inquiries@nist.gov.
Media Contact:
Linda Joy, (301) 975-4403
Optoelectronics
Digest
Available on Optical Fiber Measurements
Researchers interested in the
characterization of optical fiber and related components will want a copy of the recently
published technical digest that chronicles the Tenth Symposium on Optical Fiber
Measurements held at NIST's Boulder, Colo.,
laboratories this past September.
Two of the major topics in this
compilation of symposium papers are measurements of polarization-mode dispersion and
multimode fiber measurement. Fiber geometry is represented in the digest along with the
broad topic of fiber mapping with length, including such parameters as chromatic
dispersion and polarization properties. Although the focus on multimode fiber measurement
may seem outdated, recent developments have brought multimode fiber issues back into the
measurement arena.
In all, the digest consists of 44
papers (10 invited and 34 contributed) with two-thirds of the papers originating outside
the United States.
Technical Digest, Symposium
on Optical Fiber Measurements, 1998, is available at no charge while supplies last.
Contact the NIST Optoelectronics Division at (303) 497-5342 for a copy.
Media Contact:
Fred McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
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