The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers a variety of hundreds of measurement services to its customers as a part of it’s core mission. These services include reference data, reference materials, and physical measurements and calibrations.
NIST’s work includes:
1. maintaining primary standards;
2. developing new and improved measurement methods;
3. assisting industry, as a neutral party, to standardize on appropriate measurement methods;
4. calibrating measurement devices and instruments;
5. providing reference materials, artifact standards, so that others may calibrate their own instruments.
The United States exports $27B of telecommunications components and equipment. Measurement science plays an important role in characterizing and verifying the performance of the equipment and materials currently available, it advances the performance of the next generation equipment and systems, and it facilitates the commerce of telecom products. In the area of optoelectronic metrology, NIST has been developing measurement technology for laser power for nearly 40 years. Since the 1970s NIST has been developing measurement technology for optical fiber communications and assisting with the development of measurement standards. NIST has Standard Reference Materials for integrated optic components, optical data storage, and semiconductor lasers and LEDs under development. Recently, researchers at NIST have been studying and modeling color and other electroluminescent properties of LEDs. Historically, NIST has provided radiometric calibrations. Part of the suite of radiometric measurements that NIST provides include photometry and detector responsivity both of which support the telecommunications industry. This paper will provide an overview of the suite of optics-based measurement services that NIST currently offers to support the optoelectronics community. The Electronics and Photonics Technology funding through the NIST Advanced Technology Program will be briefly discussed. The emphasis, however, will be on the measurement services provided through the Physics Laboratory's Optical Technology Division and the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory's Optoelectronics Division. |