Programs, Activities,

and Accomplishments

March 2009

NISTR 7568

NISTIR 7568

ELECTRONICS AND

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

LABORATORY

U.S. Department of Commerce

Gary Locke, Secretary

National Institute of Standards and Technology

March 2009 Patrick D. Gallagher, Deputy Director

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Director’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

EEEL Strategic Technical Area: Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

EEEL Strategic Technical Area: Bioelectronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

EEEL Strategic Technical Area: Nanotechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

EEEL Strategic Technical Area: Spintronics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

EEEL Strategic Technical Area: Homeland Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

Office of Law Enforcement Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Office of Microelectronics Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Semiconductor Electronics Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Power Device and Thermal Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Micro-Nano-Technology (MNT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 

Nanobiotechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

CMOS Device and Reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Macro Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Nanoelectronic Device Metrology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Infrastructure for Integrated Electronics Design and Manufacturing . . . . . . . . 32

Knowledge Facilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Optoelectronics Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Display Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Laser Radiometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

High-Speed Measurements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Fiber Sources and Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Quantum Information and Terahertz Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Nanostructure Fabrication and Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Semiconductor Growth and Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Optical Materials Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Quantum Electrical Metrology Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Quantum Voltage System Development and Dissemination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Metrology of the Ohm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Quantum Conductance/Graphene-Based Quantum Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

AC-DC Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Farad and Impedance Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Electronic Kilogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Electric Power Metrology and the Smart Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Quantum Sensors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Quantum Information and Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Quantum Magnetic Sensors and Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Electromagnetics Division. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 

Advanced High Frequency Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Advanced Materials Metrology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Fundamental Guided-Wave Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Antenna Metrology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Field Parameter Metrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Nanomagnetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Biomagnetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Superconductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 5

INDEX

This document describes 

the technical programs of the

laboratory.

Contact NIST/EEEL,

100 Bureau Drive, MS 8100,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8100,

Telephone: (301) 975-2220, 

On the Web: www.nist.gov/eeel/
6 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

One of NIST's Measurement and Standards Laboratories, the Electronics and Electrical

Engineering Laboratory (EEEL) conducts research, provides measurement services,

and helps set standards in support of: the fundamental and practical physical

standards and measurement services for electrical quantities; the fundamental

electronic technologies of semiconductors, magnetics, and superconductors;

information and communications technologies, such as fiber optics, photonics,

microwaves, electronic displays, and electronics manufacturing supply chain

collaboration; forensics and security measurement instrumentation; maintaining the

quality and integrity of electrical power systems; and the development of nanoscale

and microelectromechanical devices. EEEL provides support to law enforcement,

corrections, and criminal justice agencies, including homeland security. 

Vision

To be the world's leading electromagnetic measurements and standards laboratory.

Mission

To promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement

science, standards, and technology, primarily for the electronics and electrical

industries, in ways that enhance economic security and promote our quality of life.

Values

Integrity

...within our organization and in our interactions with our stakeholders

Impact

...through leadership in measurements and standards for our customers and the

nation

Excellence

...in all of our undertakings

EEEL consists of four programmatic divisions and two matrix-managed offices:

Office of Law Enforcement Standards

Office of Microelectronics Programs

Semiconductor Electronics Division

Optoelectronics Division

Quantum Electrical Metrology Division

Electromagnetics Division

ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICAL

ENGINEERING LABORATORY AT A GLANCE 
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 7

The Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory supports U.S. industry by

developing measurement science and providing measurement services over the

electromagnetic spectrum from DC to light waves. We provide measurements for DC

and low-frequency voltage and current, through microwave and terahertz quantities,

from infrared to ultraviolet laser power and energy. Our world-class measurement

services are supported by research efforts that develop the foundations for

tomorrow’s measurement sciences, and our talented and dedicated staff members

strive to ensure that we are positioned to meet the nation’s most important

measurement needs.

In this report, you will find that EEEL researchers are developing the world’s most

advanced sensors, providing advanced gamma-ray imagers for astronomical

researchers and single-photon detectors that test the limits of quantum information.

Our scientists and engineers are leading the world in a new definition of the kilogram

based on electrical units and developing nanophotonics and nanoelectronics

measurements to support a new generation of electronic devices. We are creating

novel measurements of electrical and optical waveforms that provide frequency,

phase, and temporal response at unprecedented accuracy and ever increasing

bandwidths and data rates. Our research in bioelectronics is yielding new methods for

analyzing DNA, and our efforts in bioimaging will improve the accuracy of magnetic

resonance imaging (MRI), thus improving diagnostic capability. 

Our work in power electronics and smart grid standards and measurements will

improve electrical distribution and address the nation’s energy concerns. Our job is to

support U.S. innovation by addressing the most pressing electronic and electrical

measurement needs, and our staff members take this challenge seriously.

To learn more, please visit our website, www.nist.gov/eeel/. We invite your inquiries

and interest in our measurement service offerings, measurement science

developments, and opportunities for collaboration.

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE 

James Othoff, Deputy Director

Kent Rochford, Acting Director
8 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

One of the most important issues facing the nation is the need to improve our energy

infrastructure to be more flexible, efficient, and reliable while reducing negative

environmental impacts. EEEL is building on existing research programs in all of its

divisions to better meet this need now and in the future. Our unifying vision is to

improve the electric power grid to become a new “Smart Grid,” providing a two-way

flow of electricity and information. By incorporating distributed computing,

communications, and sensors into the power grid to improve its ability to respond to

changes, the Smart Grid will become a more robust and innovative energy delivery

platform capable of supporting distributed and renewable sources of energy (such as

wind, solar, and geothermal) and new products such as plug-in electric vehicles and

electrical equipment able to modify energy use in response to external conditions.

Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of December 2007, NIST is given a

new responsibility to “coordinate the development of a framework ... to achieve

interoperability of Smart Grid devices and systems.” EEEL is currently leading NIST’s

efforts to respond to this important and challenging mandate by boldly leading and

orchestrating the efforts to develop the comprehensive standards structure necessary

for the effective and rapid implementation of Smart Grid technologies. These efforts

include engaging a broad range of stakeholders through working groups and

workshops, developing a shared vision of interoperability, fully assessing the current

standards landscape, accelerating standards development by relevant standards

organizations, and recommending standards, policies, or practices to the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) once stakeholder consensus is reached. 

Metrology development and research in EEEL addresses all facets of our energy vision,

including Smart Grid. Our electric power and energy calibrations help to ensure that

electric power metering is accurate. Our measurements of power monitoring devices

support the ability to monitor the operational state of the power grid in real time to

minimize disruptions and outages. To support the Department of Energy (DOE), we

have performed electrical efficiency testing for electrical equipment such as power

transformers and electric motors. We characterize new electronic materials such as

silicon carbide to support their use in advanced high-speed power electronics. Our

measurements of superconductors support their use for energy applications such as

for higher-capacity power transmission lines. Additionally, our measurements of

advanced optoelectronic materials and organic semiconductors and devices support

improved-efficiency solid-state lighting and organic photovoltaics. Future work is also

envisioned to improve energy generation and storage applications.

EEEL STRATEGIC TECHNICAL AREA:

ENERGY
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 9

Bioelectronics is a field of research that applies the recent advances in

electronics to create medical equipment that will lower the cost of healthcare

and improve the way in which doctors diagnosis and treat illness, cancer, and

disease. It will provide tools for researchers that will help them to better

understand how our bodies work. That knowledge will enable doctors to

diagnose medical problems much earlier than they can now, so that treatments

can be more effective and less invasive and costly. Electronic technologies have

already revolutionized medicine with X-ray and MRI imaging technologies and a

long list of other kinds of medical applications including blood pressure

measurements, electrocardiograms, and brain activity monitoring. In fact,

electronics has become so reliable and ubiquitous in medicine that we don’t

usually think about how important it has become in the plethora of applications

that save lives every day. Bioelectronics will enable new advances in medicine by

using the computer-chip technologies that have made processors smaller, faster,

and cheaper, and NIST will help make them as commonplace and reliable as

going to the doctor's office to take your blood pressure.

Bioelectronics encompasses a range of topics at the interface of biology and

electronics, including elements from electronics, biochemistry, biophysics,

biomaterials, and bioengineering. One aspect of bioelectronics is the application

of electronics to problems in biology and medicine. This includes electronics for

detection, characterization, and measurement of biological materials, especially

on the molecular, sub-cellular, and cellular level. Another aspect is the

application of biological systems and/or processes to create novel electronic

components. A third aspect of bioelectronics is based on the interfacing of

electronics with biological systems—for example, brain-machine interfacing.

Applications in this area include assistive technologies for individuals with brainrelated disease or injury, such as paralysis, and artificial retinas. 

EEEL has identified and is working on opportunities to develop new molecular

and cellular instrumentation tools for systems biology (e.g., metrology for

biomolecule detection, identification, and quantification) and new methods to

improve the bioelectronic interface (in-vivo electronic/biointerface chips).

These include the use of protein nanopores for the detection and quantification

of ions, RNA and DNA, proteins, and toxins; the use of single-protein

nanopores for aqueous-based mass spectrometry (fig. 1); the use of solid-state

nanopores and nanowires for biomarker detection; the ability to manipulate

single particles with magnetic traps; the integration of microelectrodes to

position cells and to observe growth and toxin response of cell cultures; the

integration of microwave heating elements in microfluidic structures to control

and cycle temperature (fig. 2); the use of microwave techniques to measure

single cell ion channel events with 10 MHz bandwidth; the adaptation of micromechanical beams to DNA characterization; and the ability to form disposable

chips with integrated electrodes.

EEEL STRATEGIC TECHNICAL AREA:

BIOELECTRONICS

Figure 2. Integration of microwave elements

with microfluidic systems for pinpoint

temperature control and cycling (Shah et al.,

J. Micromech. Microeng. 2008; 17: 2224-2230).

Figure 1. Single-molecule mass spectrometry

using electronic nanopore measurements

(Robertson et al., PNAS 2008; 104:8207-8211).

The entry of individual poly(ethylene glycol)

molecules into a single pore (top) causes transient

reductions in the ionic current. Larger polymers

block the pore conductance more than do smaller

ones. Each peak in a histogram of moleculeinduced current blockade amplitudes (bottom)

corresponds to a particular size molecule in a

polydisperse sample. The difference in the length

of the molecules that cause successive peaks is 3

Angstroms (red data). The blue trace corresponds

to current blockades caused by a monodisperse

PEG sample with 29 ethylene glycol repeat units.

“Bringing the Benefits

of Moore’s Law to Medicine”
10 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Nanotechnology opens new doors to tremendous innovation because material and device

behavior is radically different at the nanoscale, allowing new properties and functionalities to

emerge, but also creating significant new measurement challenges. Those who can engineer

this new functionality into new products and tools will gain tremendous competitive

advantage and huge economic and technical rewards. EEEL is developing the nanoengineering

measure ment infrastructure that is necessary to facilitate the transition of nanotechnology

from the lab to the commercial market. EEEL is also harnessing advances in nanotechnology

to improve our quantum electrical standards to better tie the U.S. legal electrical standards to

the international system of units and to ensure reproducible standard electrical measurements.

Nanotechnology is poised to make a huge difference in the $250 billion semiconductor

industry. EEEL is developing metrology that will help enable new nanoelectronic information

processing technologies to supplement and/or supplant conventional complementary

metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices that are the basis of today’s integrated circuits.

EEEL has made recent advances in creating test structures and associated test methods for

determining the fundamental electrical properties of nanoelectronic components such as Si

and GaN nanowire test structures and hybrid molecular/Si test structures. EEEL is

developing the tools needed by scientists and engineers to quantify, design, simulate, and

manufacture reliability into nanoscale devices. Novel defect characterization techniques

have been developed and used to begin to determine the fundamental relationship

between materials’ properties and nanoelectronic device reliability. New computational

state variables other than electronic charge are highly desired in order for future, highperformance information processing devices to reduce the amount of energy per unit area

that is necessary for operation. EEEL is making strong efforts to develop the metrology in

areas such as spintronics and molecular electronics. EEEL is also making advances in

magnetics and optical applications. For example, EEEL has demonstrated single-photon

sources and detectors for applications such as novel quantum-based communication

systems, quantum computing, and new quantum-based radiometry standards. 

Before nanoscale components can fulfill their scientific, technical, and commercial promise,

better methods are needed to control their growth, purification, and identification. EEEL has

advanced the controlled growth of compound semiconductor quantum dots (InGaAs) and

nanowires (GaN) for optoelectronic applications. By utilizing microfluidic methods, EEEL has

demonstrated well-controlled nanoparticle formation. Laser-based methods have been

utilized for the purification and inexpensive identification of carbon nanotubes. Highperformance transistors have been fabricated by the directed assembly of Si nanowires.

Additionally, EEEL is exploiting novel properties in nanotechnological devices to improve

our quantum electrical standards. Recent advances have been made in applying

Josephson junction technology to improve the capabilities and dissemination of AC and

DC voltage standards as well as quantum-based power generation standards. EEEL also

is investigating whether the unique properties of graphene – a single layer of carbon

atoms – can be harnessed to create better quantum resistance standards and improve

the dissemination of the Ohm.

EEEL STRATEGIC TECHNICAL AREA:

NANOTECHNOLOGY 
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 11

Spintronics, which exploits the magnetic spin of the electron instead of its charge, has the

potential to revolutionize the microelectronics industry, just as microelectronics revolu -

tionized transistor-based electronics and just as transistors revolutionized vacuum-tube

electronics. Future spintronic devices will be 10 times faster, 15 percent the size, and use only

about 1 percent of the energy of today’s conventional electronics. The goal of the EEEL

Spintronics Program is to develop new tools and measurements that bring high-frequency

metrology to the nanoscale in order to create “beyond-CMOS” spintronic devices and archi -

tectures. The program has three thrusts: metallic spintronics (ferromagnet-based

microwave spin-transfer nano-oscillators, spin-transfer magnetic random-access memory

(MRAM), spin-wave interconnects, and spin analogs of electronic devices), molecular spin -

tronics (molecular spin-resonance logic, single-molecule/nano-particle spin devices), and

the development of a nanoscale workbench (to perform spatially resolved, high-frequency,

broadband measurements of active nano-devices). 

The growth in computing power is a consequence of smaller electronic devices

working at higher frequencies. In charge-based devices, this leads to a significant

increase in energy dissipation, which causes chips to get hot. This represents a

significant design and performance challenge today, but by 2019 it is expected to halt

the dimensional scaling of devices that are based on complementary metal-oxide

semi conductors (CMOS). Spintronics could not only solve the heating problem but

could combine computer logic with nonvolatile spin-MRAM. 

Future applications of this technology include reference oscillators and directional

micro wave transmitters and receivers in devices such as cell phones and radar systems,

wireless chip-to-chip communications, nanoscale clocks, spectrum analyzers, and

high-frequency signal processors. Other spintronic devices could be spin batteries, spin

diodes and transistors, spin signal mixers, and spin-wave interconnects.

A variety of organic materials have promising spin properties, and molecules can be

synthetically tuned at the atomic scale; thus, molecular electronic devices with spindependent tunneling transport offer an innovative approach in spintronics. EEEL is develo -

ping test structures and methods to determine the fundamental spin-properties of organic

materials and assess their use in spintronic devices. Tunneling in a monolayer array of

10,000 molecules between cobalt and nickel electrodes has recently been demonstrated.

The nanoscale workbench will be an advanced metrology tool to measure the highfrequency response of active, nanoscale, spin, and molecular devices. The workbench

will combine high spatial resolution with radio-frequency measurements to probe the

frequency dependence of defects, the effects of hybridization of atomic energy

bands, and environmental factors that can affect device performance. With this tool

EEEL will be able to measure spin decay lengths and decoherence times associated with

spin currents in real devices and understand the roles of interfaces and structure. The

workbench will operate over a broad range of device temperatures using an ultra-high

vacuum chamber and four, broadband, scanning probes with tunneling feedback.

Figure 2: Schematics of a nanopore

device with a monolayer of selfassembled molecules and the chemical

structure of the octanethiol molecule. The

arrow shows the direction of an applied

magnetic field.

Figure 1: Cross-sectional sketch of a spintorque nano-oscillator. The two magnetic layers

are “active” or “fixed” because of their different

thickness and magnetization. A magnetic field H

is usually applied at some angle when studying

gigahertz excitations in such devices.

EEEL STRATEGIC TECHNICAL AREA:

SPINTRONICS 
EEEL's role in homeland security began in 1999, when the laboratory's Office of Law

Enforcement Standards (OLES) joined the nation's first concerted effort to develop

standards for equipment to protect first responders against chemical, biological,

radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) agents. This experience proved

invaluable, and soon after September 11, 2001, OLES was awarded technical

leadership of a broad range of programs focused on CBRNE countermeasures.

Today, OLES oversees scores of programs funded by the Department of Homeland

Security (DHS). Many of these programs utilize technical resources and expertise

within EEEL and elsewhere in NIST. In FY 2008 OLES's homeland security activities

brought $25M into NIST, making OLES the recipient of the greatest amount of other

agency funding at NIST. In addition, EEEL and OLES partner with DHS and other

organizations to identify and address critical homeland security needs, and their

personnel serve as key consultants with DHS and chair/serve on dozens of technical

committees and working groups. 

Recent Accomplishments

• Conducted functional tests of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags in realistic

first responder environments

• Developed and demonstrated software that emergency response organizations can

use to verify that their radios conform with the P25 Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI)

• Developed a detection model that uses dielectric spectra to discriminate between

hazardous (acetone, motor oil, bleach) and non-hazardous (apple juice, baby formula,

shampoo) liquids

Project Descriptions 

The following are a few examples of the exciting homeland security work being done at EEEL:

Performance Metrics and Transmission Standards for RF-Based Emergency

Equipment 

• Determining how environmental conditions affect the performance of radio

frequency-based personal safety systems. 

Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Standards and Technologies 

• Facilitating development of the suite of standards known as Project 25, which

ensures the interoperability of first responder radios made by different

manufacturers

Liquid Explosives Detection Standards 

• Determining the feasibility of using microwaves to identify explosive liquids in

nonmetal containers

Standards for Near Infrared to Radar Frequency Detection of Explosive Devices 

• Improving the understanding of explosive devices and their electromagnetic

properties 

EEEL STRATEGIC TECHNICAL AREA:

HOMELAND SECURITY 

12 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 13
14 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

When Congress created NIST’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLES) in 1971, no one imagined

what it would achieve. A 1960s Presidential Commission had cited “lack of reliable

technologies” as a major weakness in the criminal justice and public safety communities, and

OLES was chartered to bring NIST’s world-class metrology and standards development

talents to bear on the crisis. OLES is a program-management organization within EEEL. The

office designs and manages standards-development and research projects on behalf of

agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice

(DOJ), and others. OLES also maintains metrology activities and laboratories for equipment

unique to law enforcement, criminal justice agents, and emergency responders. 

In FY 2008 the office received approximately $55M from partnerships with the DOJ

National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS),

and the DHS Science and Technology Directorate and its SAFECOM program. This

funding makes OLES NIST's largest source of outside agency (OA) funding. These

federal partnerships enable OLES to achieve its mission to develop metrology,

standards, and test methods for and support research and development of

technologies essential to law enforcement and public safety agencies. Over the years,

as the definition of public safety has expanded, so has the Office’s expertise. 

Major Achievements

OLES began by developing in 1972 the first performance standard and testing program

for ballistic body armor – bullet-resistant vests. That effort, which continues today,

is credited with saving the lives of more than 3,100 law enforcement officers in the

U.S. and countless thousands of law enforcement, corrections, and security personnel

worldwide. Yet it was just the beginning. 

Over the decades, OLES has:

• developed 300+ standards, equipment guides, and technical reports on technologies

ranging from metal detectors and mobile radios to protective gloves and pepper spray;

• developed, beginning two years before September 11, 2001, standards for personal

protective equipment for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive

(CBRNE) threats – an effort that earned OLES its current position managing the

development of performance standards for DHS;

• conducted groundbreaking work in forensic science that has pioneered advances in

arson, ballistics, fingerprint, and DNA analyses; and

• expanded its early work on radio technologies into a central role in developing

nationwide interoperable communications for emergency responders.

Professionalism and Partnerships

OLES’s strengths are its exceptional staff and its partnerships. OLES staff members

are recognized experts in a wide range of disciplines. They hold memberships in

OFFICE OF

LAW ENFORCEMENT STANDARDS
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 15

scores of technical and scientific organizations, chair technical

and policy-making committees in those organizations, and

work closely with the public and private sectors. OLES’s

partnerships are many – federal agencies, practitioners,

academia, industry, non-government standards bodies, and

scientific and technical organizations. 

Program Descriptions

Below are brief descriptions of some activities underway in the

Office’s six Program Areas.

Critical Incident Technologies (CIT) deals with technologies

essential for rapid first response. Working with DHS, and other

federal partners, CIT develops performance standards, test

protocols, reference materials and reference data, conformity

assessment programs, and guides to help first responders select

reliable equipment and services. CIT programs encompass:

chemical detectors • radiation and nuclear detectors • X-ray and

gamma-ray screening systems • chemical respirators and personal

protective equipment (PPE) • chemical and biological (CB) suits

and ensembles • decontamination equipment • protective clothing

and monitoring systems for firefighters • electronic devices for

firefighting environments • urban search and rescue robots •

security sensors and sensor networks • radio-frequency (RF)-

based security and emergency response equipment • building

blast and fire resistance • first responder credentials • latent

fingerprint evaluation • and biometric technologies.

Detection, Inspection, and Enforcement Technologies (DIET)

expands the use of the electromagnetic spectrum for detecting

concealed threats. DIET developed the first metal detector

performance standard in the 1970s and has advanced the

technology ever since. Today the program explores other

segments of the spectrum – from microwave to ultraviolet – for

use in security and law enforcement. Current programs focus on

standoff detection and imaging of concealed objects • metrology

for detection and tracking of individuals behind barriers • RF

technologies to capture biometric information such as respiration,

heart rate, body motion, and voice • checkpoint detection of metal

objects • detectors of hazardous liquids • thermal imaging cameras

for firefighters • portable X-ray systems for bomb squads • and

complex scene projectors. The program also characterizes weapon

performance and is developing a reliable method for testing

electroshock weapons such as Tasers.

Forensic Sciences develops tools that enable responders and

investigators to gather, handle, and analyze evidence safely and

in ways that ensure its integrity in court. The program focuses

on: the National Software Reference Library • electronic crime

reference data sets and field investigation guides • computer

forensic tool testing • fire investigation tools for crime scenes,

fire modeling, and burn pattern recognition • Standard

Reference Materials (SRMs) for bullets and standards for bullet

casings • SRMs for DNA analyses • DNA assays and analysis

software • equipment and software validation • and forensic

training. The program has also updated essential SRMs for glass

refractive index and glass density (needed to calibrate

instruments used to analyze glass evidence) and developed a

method for enhancing unerased audio on magnetic tape – a

significant development in audio forensics. 

Public Safety and Security Technologies (PSST) studies

chemical-based less-than-lethal technologies, such as pepper

spray, and technologies for detecting CB agents and explosives.

The program focuses on: reference materials for testing

biothreat detection devices and instruments • ability of devices

to detect chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals

• field-deployable standard explosive test materials •

performance standards for chemical systems such pepper spray

and saliva specimens for drug testing • and law enforcement riot

gear designed for use in violent situations. PSST also develops

CB protection equipment guides with information for

evaluating and purchasing safe and reliable equipment. 

Public Safety Communications Systems (PSCS) helps to

implement a standard nationwide system that enables all law

enforcement and public safety agencies to communicate and

share data across jurisdictional and technological boundaries. PSCS

works with DHS SAFECOM and DOJ COPs to leverage existing

standards and requirements, advise IT and wireless standards

committees, and evaluate commercial devices that can provide

interim interoperability. Through its oversight of the Public Safety

Communications Laboratory, PSCS advances interoperability

related to: land mobile radios • Voice-over-Internet Protocol •

Radio Over Wireless Broadband • interoperability devices •

emerging technologies such as SDR, cognitive radio, and MANET •

and data exchange. It also conducts studies in fundamental areas

such as video and audio quality and RF propagation.

Weapons and Protective Systems (WPS) provides ongoing

technical support and research for the NIJ standard for

ballistic-resistant body armor. Its evaluation of new materials

and ballistic threats, along with its ongoing revisions of the

current standard, help ensure continued effectiveness of this

key technology. The program also develops and supports

standards for other essential equipment, including: stabresistant body armor • ballistic helmets • bulletproof glass • riot

helmets • ballistic shields and plates • vehicle armor • metallic

handcuffs • and firearms and holsters. 
16 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

OFFICE OF

MICROELECTRONICS PROGRAMS 

The electronics industry, which contributed approximately $7T to the U.S.

economy in 2007 and has enabled rapid productivity improvements across

multiple high tech sectors, relies on the microelectronics industry for vital

components. The microelectronics industry, in turn, relies upon NIST for

measurement science and technology to help them meet their own aggressive

goals for growth. NIST works closely with industry to develop and apply

enabling technology, measurements, and standards to both support today’s

production and build capability for future technology generations. 

Historical Perspective

NIST’s predecessor, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), began work in

the mid-1950s to meet the measurement needs of the infant semiconductor

industry. While this was initially focused on transistor applications in other

government agencies, in the early 1960s the Bureau sought industry guidance

from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the U.S.

Electronic Industries Association (EIA). ASTM’s top priority was the accurate

measurement of silicon resistivity. NBS scientists developed a practical

nondestructive method 10 times more precise than previous destructive

methods. The method is the basis for five industrial standards and for

resistivity Standard Reference Materials widely used to calibrate the

industry’s measurement instruments. The second project, recommended by a

panel of EIA experts, addressed the “second breakdown” failure mechanism

of transistors. The results of this project have been widely applied, including

solving a problem in main engine control responsible for delaying the launch

of a space shuttle.

Industrial Metrology Needs

By the late 1980s, NBS (now NIST) recognized that the semiconductor

industry was applying a much wider range of science and engineering

technology than the existing NIST program was designed to cover. The

necessary expertise existed at NIST, but in diverse parts of the

organization. In 1991, NIST established the Office of Microelectronics

Programs (OMP) to coordinate and fund metrological research and

development across the agency and to provide the industry with easy

single-point access to NIST’s widespread projects. Roadmaps developed by

the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) have independently

identified the broad technological coverage and growing industrial needs

for NIST’s semiconductor metrology developments. As the available

funding and the scope of the activities grew, the collective technical

program became known as the National Semiconductor Metrology Program

(NSMP), operated by the OMP.
The NSMP has stimulated a greater interest in

semiconductor metrology, motivating most of NIST’s

laboratories to launch additional projects of their own

and to cost-share OMP-funded projects. Most but not

all, of OMP’s projects are partially funded by the NSMP,

which directed a $12 million budget in fiscal year 2008. 

Fostering NIST’s Relationships 

with the Industry

NIST’s relationships with the SIA, SEMATECH, and its

subsidiary, International SEMATECH Manufacturing

Initiative (ISMI), and the Semiconductor Research

Corporation (SRC) are also coordinated through the

OMP. Staff members from OMP and NIST Laboratories

represent NIST on the SIA committees that develop the

International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors

(ITRS), as well as on numerous SRC Technical Advisory

Boards. In 2007, NIST initiated a funding program for

the Nanotechnology Research Initiative (NRI) providing

$2.8M a year for five years. NRI is a subsidiary of the

SRC. NIST staff members are also active in the

International Electronics Manufacturers Initiative

(iNEMI), the EIA, the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO), and Semiconductor Equipment

and Materials International (SEMI). NIST supports the

U.S. National Committee Technical Advisory Group for

the International Electrotechnical Commission Technical

Committee TC113 on Nanotechnology Standardization

for Electrical and Electronic Products and Systems

(Technical Advisor, USNC TAG for IEC TC 113 on

nanotechnology) by funding the Technical Advisor to

that organization.

NIST supports, together with the SRC, a graduate student

at one of the SRC universities. This year the recipient is

from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is a

student working with Prof. James Watkins at the

National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for

Hierarchical Manufacturing. The student has already

accepted an appointment for the summer of 2009 to

work at Intel in Chandler, AZ.

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 17
18 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 19

The primary mission of the Semiconductor Electronics Division is to provide the

measurement and software infrastructure to U.S. industry for mainstream silicon

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) and beyond CMOS

technologies, as well as other advanced semiconductor technology needs. The

division provides necessary measurements, physical standards, and supporting data

and technology; associated generic technology; software for improving

interoperability; and fundamental research results to industry, government, and

academia. Its programs also respond to industry measurement needs related to

bioelectronics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), power electronics,

organic/plastic electronics, and various sub-areas of nanotechnology including

nanoelectronics, nanocharacterization, nanoreliability, nanobiotechnology, and

nano- and micro-fluidics.

The division has extensive interactions with individual companies, industry

organizations, professional societies, and universities; these activities enable the

development of a research agenda responsive to the needs of industry and the

nation. Active participation in industry roadmapping, such as the Semiconductor

Industry Association's International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors

(ITRS), and standards development activities for SEMI are practiced by the division

to prioritize and establish programs with the highest potential impact. Division

researchers work with SEMI on new standards to help guide the future path of the

semiconductor electronics industry in areas such as MEMS, high-k dielectrics, ediagnostics, e-manufacturing, time synchronization, and traceability. The division

helps shape the future direction of semiconductor technology by providing

innovative metrology breakthroughs that will propel our industry forward. The

division widely disseminates the results of its research, especially in the areas of

standardized test methods and Standard Reference Materials (SRMs), through a

variety of channels: publications, software, conferences and workshops, and

participation in standards organizations and consortia. 

The division, with a staff of about 80 including full-time and part-time employees

as well as guest researchers, post-doctoral associates, contractors, and students,

is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and is one of four divisions within the

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory at NIST. The division's technical

activities are organized into three groups: the Enabling Devices and ICs Group, the

CMOS and Novel Devices Group, and the Electronic Information Group. The

division assists industry by providing tools such as new or improved measurement

methods, SRMs, test structures and chips, and software that support the needed

measurement infrastructure. Division personnel visit industrial sites, host a variety

of visitors, and make available tutorial material on an as-needed basis. We also are

active in conference and workshop activities that directly benefit the industry.

SEMICONDUCTOR

ELECTRONICS DIVISION

"Bioelectronics is the discipline

resulting from the convergence of

biology and electronics and it has the

potential to significantly impact many

areas important to the nation's

economy and well-being, including

healthcare and medicine, homeland

security, forensics, and protecting the

environment and the food supply."

- from A Framework for Bioelectronics:

Discovery and Innovation, pg. 1

(Feb. 2009)
silicon carbide (SiC) that are

beginning to replace conventional

devices made with silicon. Power

semiconductor devices made with

SiC enable operation at higher

voltages, higher speeds, and higher

temperatures. These new devices are

necessary to meet the nation’s

energy and defense priorities. 

The project is addressing a wide

range of key issues from methods to

monitor material degradation in SiC

power semiconductor devices to

methods to avoid development of

hot spots in microprocessors. The

project has pioneered electrical and

thermal measurement methods for

IGBTs, advanced SiC power devices,

and high-density integrated circuits

and has transferred these

measurement systems to industry.

The project is also playing a central

role in initiating and leading federal

programs to develop advanced

power semiconductor devices

necessary to meet the nation’s

power conversion needs for power

generation and delivery, advanced

naval ship power distribution

systems, secure power grids for

army main and forward bases, and

plug-in hybrid and electric

propulsion vehicles.

Switch-mode power conversion,

using power semiconductor devices

and other passive power electronic

components, provides the means to

convert power from one voltage to

another, to convert between direct

current (DC) and alternating current

(AC) power, and to control motion

by delivering electrical power to

motor windings or mechanical

actuators. As power semiconductor

technology has evolved from slow,

low-voltage, low-power devices to

today’s fast, high-voltage, highpower devices, switch mode power

conversion has become pervasive

and essential in all electrical and

electronic equipment except for 

in the most extreme conditions such

as very high-voltage, hightemperature, and cost-sensitive

products. 

NIST provided the theoretical

foundation, measurement methods,

and equipment that led to the

development and rapid adoption of

the most widely used high-power

semiconductor device, the Insulated

Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). As

the IGBT reached its fundamental

limits, NIST work began to focus on

devices made with new wide-bandgap semiconductor materials such as

Description

20 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

POWER DEVICE

AND THERMAL METROLOGY

Power converters for computers,

plug-in electric/hybrid-electric

vehicles, alternate/clean power

generation, and the advanced

power delivery grid rely on the

advancement of power

semiconductor devices to succeed.

Producers of power

semiconductor devices want their

products to handle higher

voltages and temperatures and to

operate at higher frequencies,

thus enabling power converters

with higher efficiencies and lower

costs. New semiconductor

materials and devices to address

these needs are rapidly being

developed, but with these new

materials and devices come new

requirements for characterizing

their performance and reliability.

The Power Device and Thermal

Metrology Project is developing

the new electrical and thermal

measurement methods and

equipment necessary to

characterize these devices. This

project has played and will

continue to play a major role in

the growth of the power

semiconductor, power electronics,

and energy systems industries.

Summary
Major Accomplishments 

• Provided leadership, data, theoretical models, and analysis for the DARPA

High Power Electronics program necessary to develop the first high voltage

SiC power modules and solid state power substation. 

• Initiated and led DOE efforts on grid connection of alternate/clean energy

sources and identified methods to substantially reduce cost and improve

performance and efficiency. 

• Developed test structures and methods to determine spatial and temporal

resolution of transient thermal microscopes and demonstrating that NISTdeveloped calibration method provides ten-fold improvement in transient

temperature accuracy. 

Selected Publications 

• A. R. Hefner, "Performance Analysis of 10 kV, 100 A SiC Half-Bridge Power

Modules," in Proceedings of the Government Microcircuit Applications and

Critical Technology Conference (GOMACTech) 2008 (2008) 

• T. H. Duong, J. M. Ortiz-Rodriguez, R. N. Raju, A. R. Hefner, "Electro-Thermal

Simulation of a 100 A, 10 kV Half-Bridge SiC MOSFET/JBS Power Module," in

Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference

(PESC) (2008)

• A. R. Hefner, “Power Conditioning System Technologies for HighMegawatt Fuel Cell Plants,” in 2008 Office of Fossil Energy Fuel Cell

Program Annual Report,

www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/coalpower/fuelcells/seca/refshelf.html

Contact

Allen Hefner

(301) 975-2071

allen.hefner@nist.gov

Figure 1.

Performing high-speed, high-voltage

silicon carbide device characterization

using NIST-developed, specialized

equipment.

Image Copyright Robert Rathe

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 21
The invention of the integrated circuit in

1959 marked the beginning of the

microelectronics revolution. From that

date to the present, the primary goal of

the microelectronics industry has been to

integrate ever-larger numbers of even

smaller transistors to produce faster and

more powerful integrated-circuit chips.

The industry’s continued success in

achieving this goal has been

immortalized in Moore’s Law, which

requires roughly doubling the number of

transistors on state-of-the art computer

memory and logic chips every eighteen

months. In fact, Moore’s Law, which has

been incorporated in The International

Technology Roadmap for Semi -

conductors (ITRS), is the foundation

upon which many new technologies

were built and many old technologies

were dramatically improved. It is no

exaggeration to say that these

technologies have revolutionized the

world in fundamental ways. 

Now, a new paradigm, which is adding

completely new capabilities to integrated

circuit chips, is a rapidly growing

component of the microelectronics

industry’s roadmap. This component,

which is often referred to as “More than

Moore” to distinguish it from Moore’s Law

scaling, is based on applying, adapting,

and extending the same technology used

to produce integrated circuits to include

new functionality at the chip level, such as

sensors and actuators. This paradigm

offers the possibility of creating systems

of unprecedented complexity and power,

but also introduces new challenges for

metrology. Every new function beyond

the classical ones of amplification,

modulation, demodulation, and filtering

requires development of new on-chip

measurement capability including

appropriate standards. 

The activities of the project fall into three

major areas. The first area, which is called

Standards for Micro Technologies, is

addressing the technology and metrology

needed to support the integration of

microcircuits, microfluidic devices, microsensors, and micro-actuators, including

the emerging field of microrobotics,

which has the potential to revolutionize

nano-manufacturing technology and

health care. The second major project

area, Cellular Bioelectronics Metrology, is

focused on the technology and metrology

needed to enable a Smart Petri Dish, which

will provide highly integrated electronic

means to carry out conventional cell

culture growth and measurements. The

third major project area, Nano

Electromechanical Systems, is concerned

with developing and applying microfluidic

and nanofluidic devices to the formation,

Description

22 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

MICRO-NANO-TECHNOLOGY

(MNT)

Summary

Imagine if your cell phone could

test your food for salmonella

when an alert was issued by the

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) or take a drop

of your blood, analyze it, 

and send the results to your

doctor when you were sick.

Further imagine if it could

consult with your doctor about

the optimum treatment,

manufacture the required drugs,

and inject microrobots into your

blood stream to deliver the

drugs to the organs where 

they were needed. 

This is the promise of the

microelectronics revolution 

as it progresses into the 21st

century – even smaller and even

more powerful. The goal of this

EEEL project is to provide the

metrology required to support

the evolving micro- and nanotechnologies that are the basis

for the microelectronics

industry’s relentless progress 

as it shifts its emphasis from

ever increasing computational

power to a diverse set 

of sensor and actuator

applications. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed and demonstrated a single-mask process for fabricating nanofluidic

devices with complex out-of-plane topography that will provide improved

performance in manipulating and characterizing nanoparticles. 

• Developed novel techniques for measuring microhotplate temperature in-situ and

demonstrated the long-term repeatability of these techniques that makes them

suitable to support Built-in Self-Test (BIST) in microhotplate-based gas sensors. 

• Developed and demonstrated liposome nanoparticle formation in microfluidic devices

that provides unprecedented control of nanoscale-liposome size and size distribution

for innovative drug delivery and nanoparticle environmental health and safety.

Selected Publications

• J. C. Marshall et al., “Young's Modulus Measurements in Standard IC CMOS Processes

Using MEMS Test Structures,” IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 960-963 (

2007)

• A. Jahn et al., “Preparation of Nanoparticles by Continuous-Flow Microfluidics,”

Journal of Nanoparticle Research, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 925-934 (2008)

• E. A. Strychalski et al., “Non-Planar Nanofluidic Devices for Single Molecule Analysis

Contact

Jon Geist

(301) 975-5484

jon.geist@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 23

characterization, separation, and

measurement of nano particles, including

collaboration on the recent development

of a nano-scale glass-blowing technology. 

Figure 1. 

High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope

(HRTEM) image of a portion of a linewidth test

structure showing the atomic planes used to

accurately determine the width of the structure.

Figure 2. 

Photograph of the NIST micro microwave oven, which is probably the world’s smallest.

Figure 3. Layout for a MEMS test structure chip

that has been fabricated with a standard CMOS IC

foundry process to serve as a reference material

for a number of different physical properties

important for MEMS devices.
Over 60 years ago, the ability to make

precise and quantitative electronic

measurements in living cells made it

possible to understand the molecular basis

of nerve activity and how single biological

molecules work. One of the

Nanobiotechnology Project’s goals is to

take this metrology paradigm to the next

level: to combine electronic and optical

measurements to address critical needs in

health care and homeland security. The

methods under development will provide a

better understanding of complex dynamic

processes in cells, organs, and tissues, by

detecting, identifying, and quantifying

specific biological molecules, including

RNA, DNA, proteins, and other

biomarkers. This research will lead to

integrated microfluidic and microelectronic

systems that will be much more powerful

than the current generation of blood

glucose sensors that revolutionized pointof-care diagnostics for diabetics.

The reductionist paradigm, which has

brought about spectacular gains in our

understanding of physical and chemical

systems, has been applied to biology and

culminated with the sequencing of the

entire human genome. While powerful,

this approach has not provided a complete

understanding of how cells and organs

work. The new Systems Biology

Personalized Medicine approach suggests

that the ability to simultaneously detect

and quantify many biological molecules

(or biomarkers) is essential to understand

human wellness and disease. That will

require a significant breakthrough in

metrology because each human cell can

express over 30,000 different proteins

and many other types of biomarkers. In

addition, because cells and tissues are

time-dependent and complex,

understanding how therapeutic agents

affect them is an open question.

Conventional metrologies are not up to

this task. Therefore, new systems that can

determine the state of a particular patient,

and monitor the effect of therapies on his

or her health, are needed to achieve the

goal of personalized medicine.

Electronics has the potential to address

these challenging measurement issues

because semiconductor devices can be

miniaturized, are scaleable, make use of

systems integration, and have the

appropriate dynamic and temporal

characteristics. Techniques that hold

promise, and that are just emerging from

the fields of bioelectronics and biophysics,

include nanotransducers (nanopores,

nanowires), single-molecule optical

characterization, and manipulation and

isolation approaches (including

dielectrophoresis, laser tweezers, and

microfluidics). These and related techniques

Description

24 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY

Summary

Each person, like his or her

thumbprint, is unique. However,

medicine for disease is distributed

to patients as if they are all the

same. In the future, in a manner

similar to a home blood glucose

test, a single drop of blood will

allow doctors to accurately

prescribe preventative treatment

and/or medicine that is tailored

to that individual’s needs. 

This new era of personalized

medicine will benefit patients

directly by correctly identifying

and properly treating disease 

in its early stages. 

This advance in health care will

have an enormous impact on the

quality of life. Economic benefits

will also be substantial because

better therapies will lead to

longer and more productive lives

and lower health care costs.

EEEL’s Nanobiotechnology Project

is developing technologies that

will permit the accurate 

and simultaneous measurement

of many tiny biological molecules

that indicate how well our 

organs and tissues are working

and how they respond to

treatments.
must be further advanced and validated, so

that measurements of complex molecular

interactions with single molecule sensitivity

can be made available to researchers and

the healthcare community.

Towards that goal, project staff members

are developing new nanoscopic tools for

biomarker metrology. For example,

researchers have shown that single

nanopores can be used to identify and

quantify ions, RNA, DNA, proteins, and

toxins. They have also demonstrated that

similar conductance-based methods can

distinguish between molecules that differ

in length by only 0.3 nm.

In addition, with scientists in the NCNR,

CSTL, and elsewhere, Nanobiotechnology

Project staff members are developing

methods for determining the structure of

integral membrane proteins, which are the

principal targets of health-related

therapeutic agents. By design, the surfaces

used in these studies contain membrane

mimics that will also serve as a platform for

the personalized medicine systems

described above.

Major Accomplishments 

• Developed a new method to determine the structure of membrane proteins,

which will help pharmaceutical companies design better drugs for the health

care industry.

• Devised an electronic method to measure the interaction between anthrax toxins,

which will aid in the development of therapeutics against this biowarfare agent.

• Developed a method to extract single mitochondria from cells, a technique that

could prove useful for identifying human remains that are damaged (e.g., in

combat or terror attacks) and for determining the cause of certain diseases.

• Invented a conductance-based method to determine the size (or mass) of

individual single molecules in solution. This significant advance should enable the

electronic detection of many different types of biomarkers simultaneously on a

single chip.

Selected Publications

• J. J. Kasianowicz, J. W. F. Robertson, E. R. Chan, J. E. Reiner, V. M. Stanford, “Nanoscopic

Porous Sensors,” Annual Reviews of Analytical Chemistry 1, 737-766 (2008)

• B. J. Nablo, K. M. Halverson, J. W. F. Robertson, T. L. Nguyen, S. Bavari, R. G. Panchal, R.

Gussio, O. V. Krasilnikov, J. J. Kasianowicz, “Probing the Bacillus Anthracis PA63 Channel

with Nonelectrolyte Polymers,” Biophys. J. 95, 1157-1164 (2008)

• J. W .F. Robertson, C. G. Rodrigues, V. M. Stanford, K. Rubinson, O. V. Krasilnikov, J. J.

Kasianowicz, “Single Molecule Mass Spectrometry in Solution Using Solitary Nanopores,”

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci (USA) 104, 8207-8222 (2007)

Contact

John J. Kasianowicz 

(301) 975-5853

john.kasianowicz@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 25

Figure 1.

The binding of Edema Factor toxin (yellow) to a Protective Antigen nanopore (orange) is a

critical step in anthrax-induced death and can be monitored electronically . Specifically, the

presence of even a trace amount of Edema Factor (EF) can be readily detected because it

blocks the current through the pore for positive potentials. EEEL demonstrated that this

electronic method could be used to rapidly screen for therapeutic agents to inhibit the

interaction of these two toxins. The cell membrane mimic (purple) is 4 nm thick.
Electronic devices and their reliability

have long been important topics of

research at NIST. Over the years, NIST

has played a central role in this

important field. Many of the commonly

used test structures and test

methodologies in the industry were first

developed at NIST. NIST also led many

of the national and international

standard setting efforts and helped

write the testing protocols. Now,

industry cannot keep up with the

increasing pace of introducing new

materials and new device structures into

advanced semiconductor technology.

Project researchers are responding to

industry needs by investigating failure

modes and degradation phenomenon in

nano scale CMOS (Complimentary

Metal Oxide Semiconductor) devices

with dimensions as small as 45 nm and

“wire” devices with much smaller

dimensions. One particular degradation

process affects p-channel devices and is

extremely difficult to characterize,

requiring novel high-speed techniques

to capture the full extent of the

degradation. A suite of specialized

instrumentation is being developed to

probe these effects at even higher

speeds.

Another phenomenon of concern in

extremely small electronic devices is

the observation of flicker noise and

random fluctuations in a device’s

operational parameters. Such

phenomena can be potential show

stoppers. The physical origin of

these fluctuations could be the

result of only one broken bond or

“trap” in the vicinity of the device’s

channel region. Project researches

are using advanced high-speed

capture techniques to monitor and

analyze the noise and fluctuations

over long periods of time. Such data

will provide insight into the location

and physical origin of the defects

responsible. 

New material systems such as highpermittivity gate dielectrics and III-V

semiconductors are being investigated

as possible replacements for siliconbased CMOS technology. Other efforts

in the project include characterizing

defects in hafnium oxide/indium

gallium arsenide devices and

understanding their chemical nature. A

combination of electrical and optical

techniques is being used to determine

the band structure and energy barriers

in such systems. There is also work in

determining the long-term reliability of

devices fabricated using silicon carbide.

Special high-temperature probe

stations capable of heating samples to

Description

26 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

CMOS

DEVICE AND RELIABILITY

Summary

Microelectronics play an

increasing role in many critical

aspects of our daily lives,

including use in airplanes,

automobiles, and medical

applications. As a result, an

electronics failure is increasingly

more life-threatening, and

reliability assurance is needed

now more than ever before. As

electronic devices are

miniaturized down to the nano

scale, reliability assurance is

becoming much more complex

and challenging due to new

degradation mechanisms that

come into play as structures get

smaller and to the inherent

difficulties in measuring such

effects in as-manufactured

structures. The goal of this project

is to develop new test methods,

characterization procedures, and

models to enable the

semiconductor industry to

continue to manufacture

integrated circuits for reliable

electronics and to make the jump

into revolutionary new

technologies that will present

even more severe cross-cutting

reliability challenges. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed the world’s fastest pulsed current-voltage sweep measurement,

achieving a complete high-fidelity sweep of the transistor’s operational

characteristics in 2 s. This allows stress-induced degradation to be fully measured

before it relaxes. These data will help project the lifetime of devices under realistic

operating conditions.

• Developed a high-accuracy method for characterizing the bias-temperatureinstability phenomenon in MOSFETs (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect

transistors). Such a method is important for industry to be able to obtain

accurate parameters for reliability models.

• Discovered a new electron trapping and detrapping mechanism in the negative-biastemperature-instability of p-MOSFETs that was not comprehended in previous

studies. The mechanism helps explain degradation data published in earlier studies.

• Developed a high-speed capture method to obtain and analyze random

telegraph signal (RTS) fluctuations in nano-scale CMOS devices. These data

suggest that the physical model assumed over the last several decades to explain

the origin of the noise is not correct. A new model is being formulated.

Selected Publications

• L. Yu, K. P. Cheung, J. S. Suehle, J. P. Campbell, K. Sheng, A. J. Lelis, S.-H. Ryu,

“Channel Hot-Carrier Effect of 4H-SiC MOSFET,” European Conference on Silicon

Carbide and Related Materials, Barcelona, Spain (2008)

• J. P. Campbell, K. P. Cheung, J. S. Suehle, A. Oates, “Electron Trapping: An

Unexpected Mechanism of NBTI and Its Implications,” 2008 VLSI Technology Symp.,

Hawaii, USA, pp. 76-77 (2008)

• J. P. Campbell, K. P. Cheung, J. S. Suehle, A. Oates, "Negative-Bias Temperature

Instability Induced Electron Trapping," Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 93, no. 3, p. 033512 (2008).

Contact

Kin P. Cheung

(301) 975-3093

kin.cheung@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 27

Figure 1. Loading 12” wafer containing state-of-the-art

CMOS devices into a probe station in preparation of making high-speed measurements

of transient changes in device characteristics due to temperature-bias stress.

Figure 2. Panel discussion during the recent

Reliability Forum held at NIST. The Forum was

jointly sponsored by SRC, NIST, and ISMI.

Experts from 32 organizations around the

world representing industry, academia, and

government participated. The looming crisis in

reliability assurance of advanced

microelectronics was addressed with a vision

for setting future reliability research directions.

400°C were developed to perform

time-dependent dielectric breakdown

tests on the silicon oxide layer used as

the gate dielectric. These data are the

first of their kind and are being used to

project the lifetime of the devices.
Description

28 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

MACRO ELECTRONICS 

Summary

The concept of electronic paper and

wearable electronics used to be a

product of science fiction. 

This futuristic concept for new

electronics is closer to reality than

most people know and represents a

fundamental change in the

consumer electronics industry. This is

macro electronics – thin, flexible,

portable, and cheap – and it

promises to revolutionize how

people interact with electronics and

impact the quality of life. Imagine

electronics so cheap that they can be

printed directly onto food packaging

to give real-time freshness status, or

unrolling thin film solar cell arrays to

power up temporary shelters.

Researchers at EEEL are developing

high-impact measurements that

investigate the most promising

means to enable commercialization

of new and diverse macro electronic

technologies for a growing list of

large-area consumer electronic

applications. There is a tremendous

commercial market potential for

these electronics: printed and

organic electronics is a $400M-peryear industry as of 2008, and it is

expected to reach $15B

per year by 2015.

The Macro Electronics Project was

established in 2005 to address

metrology gaps that limit or prevent the

commercialization of electronics

incorporating thin-film active electronic

materials and devices. Like silicon in its

infancy as a technology, there is much

that remains unknown about the

electronic, structural, and chemical

properties of new materials expected

to find use in macro electronic

applications. Additionally, there exists a

limited understanding of what

deleterious extrinsic effects may be

introduced during material processing,

how to optimize device architecture to

minimize parasitic effects that limit the

extrinsic electrical performance, and

the physical mechanisms responsible

for electrical drift phenomena and

device failure. Metrology that provides

insight to the above allows the rational

design of new materials and

accelerates the development of

computer-aided physics-based tools

for macro electronic device design and

circuit simulation. 

Project researchers initially focused on

developing metrology and measurement

methodology for thin-film transistors

(TFTs) based on solution-processed

organic semiconductors (polymeric and

small-molecule); a potentially cheap

printable technology for flexible

electronics. Extensive studies of

fundamental charge transport in these

novel materials systems allowed the

development of physics-based device

models that accurately describe the

electrical characteristics of transistors.

Understanding of macroscale device

operation was greatly enhanced by the

development of capacitance-voltage

measurements and analysis methods as

a means to characterizing the electronic

properties of the channel region and

parasitic contact effects for organic

TFTs. Researchers have also

demonstrated correlations between

molecular design, microstructure, and

electronic properties for organic thin

film and single crystal field-effect

transistors.

Researchers are also developing

metrology to enable organic-based

photovoltaic devices as a commercially

viable technology for providing lowcost renewable energy. Initial emphasis

has been placed on developing

metrology that will increase the

fundamental understanding of

photophysical and electronic processes

in photovoltaic devices to allow rapid

and significant improvements in

materials synthesis and device

engineering and processing. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed a novel process for fabricating self-patterned organic thin-film

transistors via chemical modification of the electrode interface that

simplifies device fabrication and may yield significant reductions in

manufacturing costs by eliminating subtractive processing steps. 

• Demonstrated the most concrete correlation to date between molecular

design, microstructure, and electronic properties for organic thin-film

transistors. 

• Developed the most advanced capacitance-voltage measurements and

analysis techniques for characterizing the contact and channel properties of

organic thin-film transistors.

Selected Publications 

• D. J. Gundlach, J. E. Royer, S. K. Park, S. Subramanian, O. D. Jurchescu, B. H.

Hamadani, A. J. Moad, R. J. Kline, L. C. Teague, O. Kirillov, C. A. Richter, J. G

Kushmerick, L. J. Richter, S. R. Parkin, T. N. Jackson, J. E. Anthony, “Contact

Induced Crystallinity for High Performance Soluble Acene-Based Transistors,”

Nature Materials, vol. 7, pp. 216-221 (2008)

• O. D. Jurchescu, B. H. Hamadani, H. D. Xiong, S. K. Park, S. Subramanian, N.

M. Zimmerman, J. E. Anthony, T. N. Jackson, D. J. Gundlach, “Correlation

Between Microstructure, Electronic Properties and Flicker Noise in Organic

Thin Film Transistors,” Applied Physics Letters, vol. 92, 132103 (2008)

• B. H. Hamadani, C. A. Richter, J. S. Suehle, D. J. Gundlach, “Insights into

the Characterization of Polymer-Based Organic Thin Film Transistors

Using Capacitance-Voltage Analysis,“ Applied Physics Letters, vol. 92,

203303 (2008)

Contact

David J. Gundlach

(301) 975-2048

david.gundlach@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 29

Most recently, project researchers in

collaboration with Penn State

University began addressing

metrology gaps that may limit the

commercialization of zinc oxide TFTs

as a high-performance alternative to

hydrogenated amorphous silicon

technology (second in economic

importance only to single crystal

silicon). Zinc oxide TFTs may face a

lower entry barrier to manufacturing

than organic-based devices given

their compatibility with existing

semiconductor processing methods,

and they may provide significant

improvements in electronic

performance. Preliminary studies

have focused on understanding

device reliability and stability, as well

as fundamental charge transport and

the electronic structure of zinc oxide

thin films.

Figure 1.

Characterizing the electronic properties of single-crystal organic field-effect

transistors in a vacuum cryogenic probe station.

Image Copyright Robert Rathe
More than 60 years ago, the

invention of the transistor

revolutionized technology for

communications, entertainment,

transportation, healthcare,

manufacturing, and agriculture, as

well as national security and

defense. The transistor, which is

the basic building block of

microelectronics, has been scaled

to ever smaller sizes until state-ofthe-art integrated circuits contain

billions of transistors each of

which is tens of nanometers in

size. Fundamental limitations are

being reached for conventional

transistors, and novel computing

devices capable of replacing it as

the logic switch are needed. The

Nanoelectronic Device Metrology

Project aims to develop innovative

measurements and standards that

help enable next-generation

technologies to develop to the

point where commercial

applications become feasible. The

project is targeting critical tools to

assess and speed the development

of technologies such as molecular

electronics, memristors, organic

spintronics, and Si-nanowire

transistors.

NANOELECTRONIC DEVICE

METROLOGY

Throughout its history, the

semiconductor industry has constantly

aimed to build information-processing

devices that deliver higher performance

and greater information storage

density, while costing less and using

less power. Continuation of this trend

requires new breakthroughs, and the

industry is looking to move beyond the

current standard of integrated circuits

built using complementary metaloxide-semiconductor (CMOS)

technology.

Current CMOS-based transistors are

now considered a type of

nanoelectronics, with dimensions of a

few dozen nanometers and research

ongoing to shrink them further. But

right now, the main challenge in

moving CMOS forward is making the

circuits faster, which involves

determining how to regulate their

power consumption. Researchers

aiming to develop the field of

nanoelectronics are therefore

investigating ways to exploit the

properties of materials at the nanoscale

in order to achieve this goal.

EEEL scientists are involved in a wide

range of nanoelectronics research. The

goal of the Nanoelectronic Device

Metrology Project is a fundamental

one. Project scientists are developing a

total metrology package – a set of new

tools, tests, and methods for the

nanoelectronics age – that will help

nanotechnologies enter the

marketplace more quickly. Such a large

task is well suited to NIST's uniquely

broad expertise and experimental

capabilities.

New computational state variables

other than electronic charge (such as

spin and molecular configuration) are

being investigated in order for future,

low-power, high-performance

information processing devices to

reduce the amount of energy per unit

area that is required. The project

partners with key researcher teams

associated with the Nanoelectronics

Research Initiative (NRI) to advance

this visionary, high-risk area of

research.

The project has four major goals: to

develop tests and methods to

accurately measure the electrical

properties of small groups of

molecules, ensembles that are the

basis of an emerging class of

minuscule circuits known as molecular

electronics; to develop the metrology

for research into silicon-based

nanoelectronics; to develop advanced

techniques to measure the very small

capacitances typical of nanoelectronic

Description

30 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Summary
Contact

Curt A. Richter

(301) 975-2082

curt.richter@nist.gov

Major Accomplishments 

• Demonstrated that molecular monolayers can be assembled on the same silicon

surface (Si (100)) that is used to manufacture today’s high-performance

integrated circuits, a step toward CMOS-compatible molecular electronics.

• Developed a “directed self-assembly” approach to fabricate high-performance

Si nanowire FETs on the wafer scale, demonstrating that self-assembled

nanowires can impact large scale integration.

• Combined aspects of molecular electronics and spintronics to design and

fabricate a novel device called a "molecular spin-valve." We used a powerful

characterization method, inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy, to study

charge and spin transport in this innovative structure.

Selected Publications

• C. A. Richter, H. Xiong, X. Zhu, W. Wang, V. Stanford, W. K. Hong, T. Lee, D. Ioannou,

Q. Li, "Metrology for the Electrical Characterization of Semiconductor

Nanowires," IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 55, No. 11 (2008)

• N. Gergel-Hackett, C. D. Zangmeister, C. A. Hacker, L. J. Richter, C. A. Richter,

“Demonstration of Molecular Assembly on Si (100) for CMOS-Compatible

Molecule-Based Electronic Devices,” J. Am. Chem. Soc.; (Communication);

130(13) 4259-4261 (2008)

• W. Wang, A. Scott, N. Gergel-Hackett, C. A. Hacker, D. B. Janes, C. A. Richter,

“Probing Molecules in Integrated Silicon-Molecule-Metal Junctions by Inelastic

Tunneling Spectroscopy,” Nano Letters 8 (2), 478-484 (2008)

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 31

devices (e.g., nanowire transistors

and memristors); and to devise

measurement techniques to help with

the development of organic

spintronics and other alternative

technologies.

Figure 1.

Loading a molecular electronic sample for electrical characterization.

Image Copyright Robert Rathe

Figure 2. Si-nanowire FET: directed self-assembly.
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR INTEGRATED

ELECTRONICS DESIGN AND

MANUFACTURING (IIEDM) 

In the tightly interconnected but

globally distributed electronics

industry, vast amounts of information

must flow unimpeded and correctly

between industry members in order to

create and reliably manufacture the

next-generation electronic products.

Unfortunately, instead of doing

business using a common set of

standards, companies, trade consortia,

and standards organizations have all

created their own standards on how

to interact and exchange product

information. The result is a tangled

mess of competing data exchange

standards where there are few if any

industry-wide standards, with some

even having been created for the sole

purpose of giving a particular

member an economic advantage. This

causes confusion and distrust

throughout the industry and impedes

commerce. The IIEDM project at NIST

is uniquely suited to solving this

problem due to its researchers'

technical expertise and neutrality,

which allows industry consortia,

academic institutions, and standards

bodies to improve their data

exchange standards without concerns

of favoritism or bias towards one

particular technology or standard.

In the highly competitive global

semiconductor and electronics industry,

the key to survival for companies is their

ability to dramatically increase their pace

of innovation, manufacturing, and market

share. This is because most electronic

products debut as a high profit margin

product when first released but rapidly

transition down to mere commodity

status. Cell phones are a perfect example

of this trend where most models typically

have a 6 to 18 month shelf life before

being made obsolete by newer models.

This means that companies typically only

have one chance to design, manufacture,

and market a new product. Failure on any

level (product design flaw, manufacturing

process taking too long, product not

allowed in target market, etc.) can result in

lost sales, profit, and future investments.

Few semiconductor and electronics

companies can survive failure for long.

Industry knows that the key to surviving

this viciously fast product development

cycle is the need for information and

accurate sharing of data. In designing and

producing new products, vast amounts of

information need to be exchanged

between industry partners. Examples

include product design information

(necessary to outsource a product’s

production across multiple companies and

multiple countries) and product material

composition information (to ensure

environmental regulation compliance and

market acceptability). Just as importantly

as having the ability to exchange

information is the requirement that the

information exchange is correct and

understandable. 

If a product’s information cannot be

exchanged between companies or is

accidentally altered in transmission, the

entire product can be ruined. What

industry needs is a robust IT infrastructure

consisting of standards for collaboration,

business process integration, and the

exchange of technical data.

Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons

(lack of coordination across industry, lack

of support for standards development

efforts, and a lack of trust between

business competitors), industry is far from

having the uniform set of standards that

are needed to achieve their goal of fast

data exchange and integration. In fact,

with multiple companies, trade consortia,

and standards development bodies all

working to establish the needed IT

infrastructure, industry has been left with

a tangled mess of competing standards

with no clear idea of which, if any,

standard should be used and supported.

Project researchers work with industry to

enable the robust IT infrastructure needed

to support the electronics industry. Key

Description

32 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Summary
Major Accomplishments 

• Provided technical expertise and leadership in the development of IPC 1752, the U.S.’s

first material declaration standard, which was created to support efforts to prove

compliance with Europe’s new restrictions on hazardous materials in electronics.

Products failing to comply would be banned from the EU market, negatively

impacting the $46 billion dollars of U.S. high-tech exports marketed in Europe.

• Chaired the Information Management Systems chapter of the iNEMI industry

roadmapping effort, which seeks to identify future technology roadblocks in

managing product information. This allows solutions to be developed and in

place by the time needed by industry.

Selected Publications

• E. Simmon, J. Messina, K. Brady, "Information Management for Environmental

Concerns," FEO MAGAZINE, No. 2 (2008) 

• E. Simmon, J. Messina, "Improving Environmental Information Handling and Data

Exchange within the Electronics Industry," Proceedings of 2008 IEEE International

Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, San Francisco, CA (2008)

• J. Moyne, Y. S. Li-Baboud, X. Zhu, D. Anand, S. Hussain, "Semiconductor

Manufacturing Equipment Data Acquisition Simulation for Timing Performance

Analysis," Proceedings of ISPCS 2008 – International IEEE Symposium on

Precision Clock Synchronization for Measurement, Control and

Communication,” Ann Arbor, MI (2008)

Contact

John Messina

(301) 975-4284

john.messina@nist.gov

areas that the project is working on

include: the ability to accurately describe

electronic components and their

attributes, how this data is organized and

packaged, and how it is accessed and

used through a product’s lifecycle (from

the product design, through its

manufacturing, and, ultimately, to its

recycling). Using NIST’s reputation for

neutrality and technical expertise, the

project’s researchers are able to increase

industry’s participation in standards

development projects that traditionally no

single company will pursue due to its

broad-based benefit to industry. In

addition, being outside of industry gives

this project a unique ability to survey

industry activity and guide efforts to avoid

overlapping standards development and

prevent interoperability problems.

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 33

Figure 2.

Regulations will

impact multiple

areas outside of

manufacturing.

Figure 1.

The project brings printed circuit board standards development techniques and

technologies to the semiconductor industry
KNOWLEDGE FACILITATION 

The Knowledge Facilitation

Project spearheads the EEEL

effort to eliminate paper and to

automate manual, labor

intensive activities. The project

employs cutting-edge webbased technologies to develop

custom applications in support

of efficient EEEL operations.

These applications, which are

developed in house and are not

available commercially,

automate tasks and decrease

the administrative requirements

of the technical and support

staff, while increasing

responsiveness to customers and

implementing a secure paperless

environment. As a result, EEEL

scientists are able to spend more

time working in their labs than

working at their computers to

fulfill administrative

requirements. 

As more and more EEEL data are

stored electronically, project

staff members have developed

ways to share the information

through a variety of reporting

mechanisms, minimizing the

number of times the data have

to be entered.

EEEL has taken the lead in developing

several IT applications at NIST that help

both the researchers and management

track the progress a project is making

toward meeting its defined goals. The EEEL

project database allows researchers to

enter milestones, deliverables, tasks, and

cost centers by project and to update their

status quarterly. Manage ment can use the

database to monitor progress without

disrupting the researcher, and the

researcher can use the database to

generate progress reports to outside

sponsors. This database is maintained by

fiscal year so a history of the project and its

milestones and accomplish ments is

maintained. This application contains all

project-related information such as

funding, mile stones, staff, progress, etc.

for all of the 97 projects in EEEL. Access to

the data is provided by user roles; i.e.,

division chief, group leader, project leader,

and staff. Each person’s ability to edit

information increases based on his or her

defined role. This database interacts

directly with the NIST publications

database to report publications the project

has produced. The NIST publica tions data -

base allows researchers to enter their

papers into the editorial review process

electronically, and, once the paper is

published, the system can make a PDF

version of the paper available to the public

via the NIST external website with no

further action by the researcher required.

The project database also interacts with

the EEEL trip and talk database to report

travel and talks given by project staff. Both

of those applica tions were also developed

by the Knowledge Facilitation Project. 

Project staff members are also

developing an RFID inventory application

for EEEL. Inventories cost the division in

labor, as the technical staff members

spend valuable time locating equipment.

By marking each piece of equipment with

an RFID tag, coupled with an application

developed by project staff, the inventory

can be performed by non-technical staff

as often as management requests. The

cost savings in technical staff time alone

is enormous. 

With a renewed emphasis on safety,

project staff members are developing a

safety database to store information

about hazards located in each resear cher’s

laboratory. The database will store

information about lasers, high voltage,

etc., and it will automatically print warning

signs for the laboratory doors. Hazard

reports by building and floor will be easily

generated, so management can verify

safety procedures during quarterly safety

inspections. Project staff members are

committed to helping the researchers

spend more time in the lab.

Description

34 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Summary
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed a web-based application in JAVA to initiate, store, and manage

the workflow process for all NIST publications. This EEEL application was so

successful, it was adopted NIST wide.

• Developed the Information System to Support Calibrations (ISSC), which is

a structured-query language database-driven application. The ISSC stores

all of the administrative, technical, and financial data involved with items

calibrated at NIST.

• Developed a scheduling and accounting system for the NIST AML

Nanofabrication Facility. It allows researchers to schedule time on

equipment in the Nanofab and charges them by the time the facility was

used.

• Developed and demonstrated a prototype inventory application, using RFID

technology, for inventory control for EEEL. This will ultimately free

researchers from having to do time-consuming inventory assessments.

• Developed follow-on application to the ISSC to manage internal NIST

calibration data. 

Selected Software Applications

• Electronic Project Database

• OLES Body Armor Database

• EEEL Solvency

• Personnel Database

• Trip Database

• Bibliography Database

• RFID Inventory Database

• Cost Center Database

• Check Standards Database

Contact

Kevin Brady

(301) 975-3644

kbrady@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 35

Figure 1.

Using RFID

Technology for

equipment inventory.
36 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 37

Optoelectronics is the study of electronic devices that produce, detect, and control light.

The mission of the Optoelectronics Division is to provide the optoelectronics industry and its

suppliers and customers with comprehensive and technically advanced measurement

capabilities and standards, as well as traceability to those standards. We take metrology

seriously. In optoelectronics, as in many other fields, metrology is a key part of the industrial

infrastructure that establishes competitiveness. Consistently specified products are

essential in fair trade, and measurements are a key element in efficient manufacturing. The

cost of measurements often ranges between 10 % and 30 % of the cost of producing a

product. Advancing the field of optoelectronics metrology is therefore an important task.

The division is comprised of eight projects focused on four major areas: radiometry,

telecommunications, quantum optics, and nanophotonics. Our activities are well-aligned with the

national and NIST priorities of measurements and technology for energy, environment,

manufacturing, healthcare, physical infrastructure, and information technology. Our focus on a

small number of significant technical areas enables us to maximize impact and benefit from

collaboration among the projects made possible by our common optoelectronic technology focus. 

The division maintains the U.S. national standards for laser power and energy

measurements and uses them to provide the broadest range of laser calibration capabilities

available anywhere. Each year we perform over 200 calibrations of power- or energymeasuring instruments for more than 50 customers. We also provide artifact calibration

standards called Standard Reference Materials. These components provide customers with

the capability of performing periodic instrument calibrations traceable to national

standards in their own laboratories. We also develop solutions for tomorrow’s critical

measurement challenges in nanoscale optoelectronics, the creation and characterization of

engineered photon states, quantum information, and optical communications.

The division is well-connected with both public and private stakeholders. We maintain close

contact with the optoelectronics industry through major industry associations, such as the

Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA). We also directly gather input

from and assist customers in companies and universities. With collaborators, we lead

fundamental research in areas such as fiber sources for next-generation atomic clocks, single

photonics for ultra-secure communications, and carbon nanotubes for state-of-the-art

detector coatings. We also transfer detector technology, trace gas sensing methodology,

and other research to the public sector. Finally, we represent NIST to the major domestic and

international standards-developing organizations active in optoelectronics – especially the

American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the International Electrotechnical Commission

(IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the Telecommunications

Industry Association (TIA) – and provide impartial technical expertise in their negotiations. 

Our intent is to be the preeminent source of optoelectronics metrology in the world. We

strive to provide the best optoelectronic measurement services possible and perform the

research and development that best enhances measurement sciences in optoelectronics.

OPTOELECTRONICS

DIVISION
Description

38 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

DISPLAY METROLOGY

Summary

Televisions, computers, and

telecommunications

equipment are merging into

advanced systems that enable

unforeseen applications in

many areas, such as education

(remote learning),

entertainment (3D movies),

and medicine (remote

surgery). Displays are

everywhere – thermal imagers

for firefighters, airplane

cockpits, and your doctor’s

office. To facilitate worldwide

commerce in displays,

methods for characterizing

display quality are needed to

ensure that a display will

work under the available

lighting conditions – ranging

from daylight for cell phone

users to smoky buildings for

firefighters. To ensure equity

in the marketplace,

NIST is working with industry

to develop standards and

the necessary measurement

tools to characterize displays

under a wide variety of

conditions.

The United States is a major user

of electronic displays for medical,

automotive, avionics, consumer,

and computational use. The first

three applications require

stringent testing to ensure

adequate performance for

viewing and interpreting digital

images. For example, medical

radiologists require displays that

will provide accurate contrast and

resolution of digital images;

correct medical diagnoses depend

upon it. In addition, well-defined

methods for specification and

verification of display quality are

necessary to enable worldwide

commerce of displays. Sound

metrology tools are urgently

needed in this highly competitive

environment of new and emerging

display technologies to ensure

quantitative metrics for

comparing the performance of

emerging technologies. Further,

universally recognized and

accepted standard documents are

needed to provide customers with

the necessary knowledge to make

informed purchases for their

applications.

To address these needs, EEEL has

focused on developing a common

set of best practices in critical

measurement areas. These areas

include reflection metrology and

stray light management (veiling

glare, ambient contributions) and

the development of transfer

standards and devices to facilitate

direct comparisons of different

display technologies under different

lighting conditions – from the

brilliant daylight in an airplane

cockpit to the dark automobile

interior at night. 

In the area of reflection

metrology, EEEL researchers have

developed quantitative methods

based upon the bidirectional

reflectance distribution function.

They are using a three-component

reflection model of specular (with

a distinct virtual image

proportional to the luminance of

the source), Lambertian (perfectly

diffuse, luminance proportional to

the illuminance), and haze (a

diffuse intermediate state of

between specular and Lambertian

that is peaked in the specular

direction but proportional to the

illuminance). EEEL is extending

these techniques to address issues

related to daylight readability of

displays.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed world-class short course on display metrology. Other NMIs send

their staff to NIST to learn about best practices.

• Developed methods for characterizing luminance probes for use with highcontrast medical displays, critical for clinical diagnostics.

• Published popular consumer guide for purchasing flat panel televisions,

featured in Home Theater Magazine.

• Led international standards activities; e.g., SID International Committee for

Display Metrology.

Selected Publications 

• E. Kelley, M. Lindfors, J. Penczek, “Display Daylight Ambient Contrast Measurement

Methods and Daylight Readability,” J. Soc. Inf. Display 14, 1019-1030 (2006)

• J. B. Dinaburg, F. Amon, A. Hamins, P. Boynton, “Performance of LiquidCrystal Displays for Fire-Service Thermal-Imaging Cameras,” J. Soc. Inf. Display

16, 703 (2008)

• M. Dowell and E. Kelley, “Tricks of the Trade: Tips for Buying Flat Panel Display

Televisions,” NCSLI Metrologist, 28-29 (2008)

Contacts

Edward Kelley

Paul Boynton

(301) 975-3014

paul.boynton@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 39

Figure 1.

Reflection measurement apparatus for large flat panel displays.

Reflection measurements are critical to the evaluation of display

performance under ambient illumination conditions, which can vary

from blue sky illumination on a cell phone to the reflected light

from office walls onto a desktop monitor.

Figure 2. Multi-sun-level photoluminescence measurement apparatus under calibration. 
Description

40 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

LASER RADIOMETRY 

Summary

Accurate characterization 

of lasers is important 

to applications such 

as communications, medicine,

and semiconductor

manufacturing, as well 

as laser safety. 

This project focuses on

measurements of critical laser

parameters, especially laser

power and energy. 

Project staff members

participate in national and

international standards

committees for laser safety

and optoelectronic devices.

Through research into new

optical materials and

detectors, the Optoelectronics

Division has extended

and improved measurements

of lasers and optical detectors,

including development

of low-noise, spectrally

flat, highly uniform

optical detectors; highaccuracy transfer standards

for optical-fiber and laser

power measurements; and

advanced laser systems for

laser power and energy

measurements.

Meeting the current and future

needs of the laser and

optoelectronics industries requires

investigation and development of

improved measurement methods

and instrumentation for highaccuracy laser metrology over a

wide range of powers, energies,

and wavelengths. The

Optoelectronics Division has

historically used electrically

calibrated laser calorimeters to

provide traceability to the SI units

for laser power and energy. The

division has also developed

measurement capabilities based

on a Laser Optimized Cryogenic

Radiometer, which provides an

order of magnitude in accuracy

improvement for laser power

measurements, compared to

e l e c t r i c a l l y c a l i b r a t e d r a d i o -

meters. 

With few exceptions, all of the

primary measurement standards

for establishing traceability to

fundamental units for radiometry

are based on thermal detectors.

Research into optical coatings has

led to superior thermal detectors

with absorber coatings consisting

of purified carbon nanotubes. To

support advanced carbon

nanotube coatings, project staff

members have developed a set of

characterization tools for

practical measurements of bulk

nanomaterials using non-contact

probes pioneered at NIST. Existing

measurement tools are neither

practical nor useful for current

and future large-scale production

of nanomaterials. These tools

often rely on physical contact

between the test probe and the

material under study. However,

physical contact between probes

and nanomaterials may alter the

material property of interest; e.g.,

differentiating bulk resistance

from contact resistance.

Advanced, cost-effective

analytical techniques are needed

so that manufacturers, product

developers, and regulatory

agencies can truly "see" what they

have. Photons, being massless and

chargeless, are an ideal, noncontact probe. These non-contact

techniques, relying on photonmatter interactions, include

r e s o n a n t - c o u p l e d p h o t o -

conductive decay, high-Q

dielectric measurements,

absorption spectroscopy, and

fluorescence. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Completed international comparisons of laser power with Germany, Great

Britain, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Switzerland.

• Demonstrated a novel optical detector with spectral response variations less

than 1 % over a wavelength range from 600 nm to 1800 nm. 

• Published absolute reflectance and absorbance values of carbon nanotube

films, critical for international documentary standards and as input to

commercial product development.

• Developed critical metrology for high-efficiency, laser-based manufacturing

processes. 

Selected Publications 

• J. Lehman, K. Hurst, A. Dillon, A. M. Radojevic, R. M. Osgood, “Multiwall Carbon

Nanotube Absorber on a Thin Film Pyroelectric Detector,” Opt. Lett. 32, 772-774 (2007)

• Vayshenker, J. Lehman, D. Livigni, X. Li, K. Amemiya, D. Fukuda, S. Mukai, S. Kimura,

M. Endo, J. Morel, A. Gambon, “Trilateral Optical Powermeter Comparison Between

NIST, NMIJ/AIST, and METAS,” Appl. Opt. Lett 46, 643-646 (2007)

• K. Ramadurai, C. L. Cromer, J. H. Lehman, K. E. Hurst, L. A Lewis, A. C. Dillon, R. J.

Mahajan, “Evaluation of Thermal Threshold of Carbon Nanotubes for Thermal Detector

Coatings,” J. Appl. Phys. 103, 013103 (2008)

Contact

John Lehman

(301) 497-3654

john.lehman@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 41

Figure 1.

Photograph (right) and scanning electron microscope images (left) of a thin-film

pyroelectric detector coated with multi-walled carbon nanotubes. We have observed that

multi-walled carbon nanotubes are superior to single-wall carbon nanotubes for a thermal

absorber having high absorption efficiency, high damage threshold over a broad

wavelength range. (Lehman et al., Opt. Letts., 32, 772-774 (2007).

Figure 3. Flowing water optical power meter

(black cone) for optical power measurements of

high-power diode laser sources. 

(Photo by Chris Cromer.)

Figure 2. Thermal image of a high-energy laser

attenuator. The targeted red area is a mirror being

heated slightly above room temperature while

illuminated with a 250 mJ laser pulse. 

(Photo by Dan King.)
Description

42 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

HIGH-SPEED

MEASUREMENTS

Summary

E-mail, Web searches,

text messages, bank 

transfers, landline phone

calls, even wireless calls all

spend time as pulses of light

flashing through fiber-optic

lines spanning tens, hundreds,

or thousands of miles.

Today's economy relies

on these forms of high-speed

communications, and NIST

plays a crucial role in

providing the means to test

the equipment on which these

communications depend 

by developing novel methods

for calibrating optical and

electrical waveforms.

These methods will enable

the design and qualification

of current and nextgeneration communication

networks that is required

to achieve the goal of true

broadband access in every

American community.

Optoelectronic communications

hardware translates electric

currents into light waves and back

again at a pace that can move data

as fast as 40 gigabits per second —

a speed great enough to transmit

full-length digital movies across the

country in something over a

second. EEEL has pioneered the

high-speed measurement standards

and methods crucial to the

functioning of high-speed

communication equipment as well

as other vital radar, remote

sensing, wireless communications,

and computer-networking hardware.

Through a combination of electrooptic sampling (EOS) and

covariance-based uncertainty

analysis, EEEL calibrates high-speed

photodiodes to be used as electrical

pulse generators for characterizing

high-speed test equipment in both

time- and frequency-domains. 

The covariance analysis creates a

framework for maintaining the

correlations in the uncertainties of

the frequency-domain impedance

measurements and mismatch

corrections in the EOS measurements

so that uncertainties in the timedomain can also be determined. An

important application of these

calibrated pulse generators is the

calibration of oscilloscopes and

other high-speed temporal

waveform measurement systems

used in the digital electronics,

wireless communications, and fiber

optic communications industries.

When combined with the NIST

Timebase Correction Software,

engineers can overcome some of

the bandwidth limitations of their

test equipment, enabling product

specifications with known

uncertainties rather than the

current practice of placing upper

limits on signal accuracy, leading

to needlessly large tolerances in

high-speed components and

systems.

With the prospect of faster alloptical switching equipment,

engineers will need a way of

measuring light-signal quality,

understanding its inevitable

degradation, and dynamically

compensating for such impairments

in the equipment sending the

original signal. To this end, EEEL is

measuring light signal quality as

well as various forms of signal

degradation in work indispensable

to next-generation all-optical

networking.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed first traceable electro-optic sampling system to calibrate photodiodes

up to 110 GHz.

• Demonstrated world’s only calibrated complex frequency response and timedomain impulse response with mismatch corrections and full point-by-point

uncertainty analysis in both time and frequency domains thus enabling

traceability to new classes of high-speed devices.

• Created publicly available software to correct for both random and systematic

timebase errors in high-speed sampling oscilloscopes.

Selected Publications 

• J. A. Jargon, X. Wu, and A. E. Willner, “Optical Performance Monitoring Using

Artificial Neural Networks Trained with Eye-Diagram Parameters,” IEEE Photon.

Technol. Lett., vol. 21, pp. 54-56 (2009)

• P. D. Hale, D. F. Williams, A. Dienstfrey, C. M. Wang, A. Lewandowski, T. S. Clement,

D. A. Keenan, “Complete Waveform Characterization at NIST,” Conference on

Precision Electromagnetic Measurements, June 8-13, 2008, pp. 680-681 (2008)

• D. F. Williams, A. Lewandowski, T. S. Clement, C. M. Wang, P. D. Hale, J. M.

Morgan, D. A. Keenan, and A. Dienstfrey, “Covariance-Based Uncertainty

Analysis of the NIST Electro-Optic Sampling System,” IEEE Trans. Microwave

Theory Tech., vol. 54, pp. 481-491 (2006)

Contact

Paul Hale

(301) 497-5367

paul.hale@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 43

Figure 1. Graphical representation of the

correlation matrix corresponding to

systematic errors in measuring the waveform

of Figure 1. Light areas show times that are

highly correlated with each other, while dark

areas show times that are only partially

correlated. Knowledge of the covariance

matrix, which is closely related to the

correlation matrix, allows transformation of

the uncertainty between the time and

frequency domains, when appropriate. The

technique for transforming the uncertainty

was developed at NIST.

Figure 2. A digital optical

communications signal measured with

linear optical sampling. The gray dots

are an "eye" diagram of the signal,

which has a four-level phase-sift keying

format, dominated by random noise.

The colored dots are obtained by

waveform averaging the eye diagram

with a precision time base to reveal

individual signal trajectories, allowing

signal distortions to be distinguished

from noise.

Figure 3. Calibrated waveform a pulse generator

delivers to a 50 Ohm load (top) and the standard

uncertainty of the voltage at every time (bottom).

The uncertainty is the square root of the diagonal

elements of the covariance matrix. This

measurement is directly traceable to the NIST

electro-optic sampling system through techniques

developed at NIST.
Description

44 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

FIBER SOURCES AND

APPLICATIONS 

Summary

Optical frequency combs

convert a laser source

containing a single frequency

of light into pulses that

include thousands of

frequencies. This project aims

to develop frequency comb

technology for a growing list

of applications.

Using a comb working at

optical telecommunications

wavelengths, project

physicists have transmitted

signals from next-generation

optical atomic clocks across

hundreds of kilometers. They

have demonstrated how pairs

of combs working together

can increase by a factor of

one hundred the speed of

trace chemical analysis with

significant enhancements in

sensitivity. Frequency combs

also promise to enable

extremely accurate distance

measurements and to assess

the quality of high-speed

telecommunications

signals with unprecedented

precision.

In 2005, NIST scientist John L. Hall

shared the Nobel Prize in physics

for his part in the invention of the

optical frequency comb. In the

frequency domain, the output of a

frequency comb is literally a comb

of narrow, sub-hertz, optical

lines, while, in the time domain,

the output is a highly coherent

pulse train with sub-femtosecond

timing jitter. The original comb

relied on a titanium-sapphire

laser, but, in the last five years,

scientists in this project and

elsewhere have built combs using

much less expensive commercial

fiber-optic telecommunications

components and are exploring the

promise of using economical

devices to improve timekeeping,

chemical analysis, precision

ranging, and telecommunication

diagnostics.

Working with the NIST Time and

Frequency Division, project

scientists have demonstrated that

fiber-laser based frequency combs

can support measurements of the

highest performance optical clocks

at fractional frequency

uncertainties below one part in

1017. At these uncertainties,

current satellite transmission

methods are inadequate; however,

project scientists have

demonstrated that it is possible to

transmit these highly stable

signals over 250 km of standard

optical fiber, as a first step to a

nationwide fiber-optic distribution

of clock signals.

EEEL scientists also have begun to

explore other applications that

could benefit from the uniquely

coherent and broadband output of

these comb sources. In the area of

spectroscopy, they have measured

the coherent optical response of a

molecular gas over 15 THz of

optical bandwidth. In laser

ranging, they have demonstrated

micrometer-level ranging at

kilometer distances in millisecond

timescales. This rapid absolute

ranging could support large-scale

manufacturing or the future

formation flying of satellite arrays.

Finally, in the area of tele -

communications, project scien tists

have demonstrated high-resolution

measurements of high-speed

phase-modulated waveforms. Such

measurements could provide novel

diagnostic capabilities in nextgeneration high-speed telecom -

munications.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed first self-referenced phase-locked fiber-based frequency comb

source in the 1100 nm to 2200 nm wavelength region to support the most

advanced optical clocks.

• Demonstrated coherent transfer of high-frequency stability optical signals

over 250 km of fiber with a fractional stability of 3x10-16 at 1 s.

• Expanded potential applications of fiber frequency combs by demonstrating

high-resolution molecular spectroscopy, ranging, and characterization of

telecomm modulators.

Selected Publications

• I. Coddington, W. Swann, N. R. Newbury, "Coherent, Multiheterodyne

Spectroscopy Using Stabilized Optical Frequency Combs," Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol.

100, No. 013902, pp. 013902-1-013902-4 (2008)

• P. Williams, T. Dennis, I. Coddington, W. Swann, N. R. Newbury, "Vector

Characterization of High-Speed Components Using Linear Optical Sampling with

Milliradian Resolution," accepted for publication in IEEE Photonics Technology

Letters.

• N. R. Newbury, P. Williams, W. Swann, "Coherent Transfer of an Optical Carrier

over 251 km," Opt. Lett., Vol. 32, No. 21, pp. 3056-3058 (2007)

Contact

Nathan Newbury 

(301) 497-4227

nathan.newbury@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 45

Figure 3. Diagram of Linear Optical Sampling

System (top) and the measured amplitude and

phase (bottom) for a 10 Gbit/s phase modulated

signal with 1.3 milliradians of phase noise.

Figure 1. Optical

response of hydrogen

cyanide (HCN) molecules.

Image was obtained

directly in the radiofrequency domain by

mixing the signals from

two fiber combs, one of

which passes through the

HCN sample and the other

serving as a reference.

Figure 2. The light traveled a total of 251 km, 76 km around installed fiber in the Boulder

Research and Administration Network (red line) and 175 km on spooled fiber maintained

at NIST. Using an

optical feedback

technique, we

stabilized the

light to a

fractional

stability 6x10-19

at 100 seconds.

(c) 2008 Google

- Map data 

(c) 2008 

Tele Atlas.
Description

46 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

QUANTUM INFORMATION

AND TERAHERTZ TECHNOLOGY

Summary

Our nation requires the flow

of information for the

banking industry, the military,

and others to be completely

secure. Coding information

with single particles of light

(photons) holds the key to

ultimate protection from

eavesdropping, guaranteed by

the laws of physics. 

This project develops devices

and measurements that

enable world-record-setting

demonstrations of secure

communications. 

Sensors that can detect

concealed weapons and

explosives under clothing are

critical to homeland security.

Terahertz imaging systems

are capable of revealing

objects and chemicals that

metal detectors cannot, but

without the risk that 

X-rays pose. 

This project develops the

terahertz systems and

measurements that enable

applications including

airport security, aircraft

navigation, and industrial

processing.

This project has two main focuses –

the development of optical photon

technologies for quantum

information science and technology

and the development and application

of terahertz and millimeter-wave

technology and metrology for

imaging and spectroscopy.

In the development of single

photonics for quantum information

science and technology, researchers

work closely with the Nanostructure

Fabrication and Metrology Project on

the generation of novel non-classical

states of light and the detection of

single photons. Currently, EEEL

investigates the use of nonlinear

fibers and nonlinear crystals as a

source of correlated photon pairs or

squeezed light and is manipulating

the squeezed light to make

Schroedinger “Cat” states of light. In

addition to making non-classical

states of light, EEEL researchers build

detector systems that are the best in

the world at operating at the single

photon level. Presently, this project is

primarily focused on using two

different superconducting detector

technologies – transition-edge

sensors (TES) and superconducting

nanowire single-photon detectors

(SNSPD).

Over the past several years, the

“Terahertz” portion of this project has

focused on bolometric detection of

THz radiation. Initial work on

cryogenic detectors has been

extended to antenna-coupled

bolometers operating at room

temperature. These detectors provide

a rugged, low-cost alternative for

homeland security applications; e.g.,

mobile police units or portal scanners

in airports. Researchers have

established that imaging in the

terahertz frequency range has the

potential for effectively detecting

weapons and contraband concealed

by clothing. EEEL staff members have

fabricated a focal plane array of

antenna-coupled bolometers and

demonstrated best-in-class, real-time

imaging. Plans are to continue to

explore applications of roomtemperature (uncooled) and

cryogenic antenna-coupled microbolometers and perform side-by-side

imaging of the same scenes with

passive and actively illuminated

terahertz camera systems to help

settle many outstanding phenomenological questions, such as the

capability of terahertz systems to

selectively identify specific target

materials.
Major Accomplishments 

• Demonstrated the highest system detection efficiency for single photons,

>95 % at 1550 nm.

• Demonstrated, for the first time, time-correlated single-photon counting

with superconducting single-photon detectors.

• Developed and demonstrated an ultra-wideband, millimeter-wave/terahertz

detector array for use in contraband detection (with VTT of Finland).

• Developed and characterized a novel, aqueous blackbody calibration (ABC)

source for calibrating optical power in the mm-wave to terahertz frequency

band.

Selected Publications 

• D. Petrovykh, H. Kimura-Suda, A. Opdahl, L. Richter, M. J. Tarlov, L. Whitman,

"Alkanethiols on Platinum: Multicomponent Self-Assembled Monolayers,"

Langmuir, Vol. 22, No. 6 (2006)

• D. Petrovykh, V. Perez-Dieste, A. Opdahl, H. Kimura-Suda, J. Sullivan, M. J.

Tarlov, F. Himpsel, L. Whitman, "Nucleobase Orientation and Ordering in Films of

Single-Stranded DNA on Gold," Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.

128, No. 1 (2006)

• K. Balss, C. T. Avedisian, R. Cavicchi, M. J. Tarlov, "Nanosecond Imaging of

Microboiling Behavior on Pulsed-Heated Au Films Modified With Hydrophilic

and Hydrophobic Self-Assembled Monolayers," Langmuir, Vol. 21, No. 23

(2005)

Contact

Sae Woo Nam

(303) 497-3148

saewoo.nam@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 47

Figure 2. Four tungsten transition-edge sensors

with aluminum wiring. The upper two are 25 μm

by 25 μm. The lower two sensors are 50 μm by

50 μm.

Figure 1. Passive millimeterwave image of concealed

contraband (handgun and

ceramic knife).
Description

48 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

NANOSTRUCTURE

FABRICATION AND METROLOGY

Summary

The photon is the

fundamental particle of light,

analogous to the electron as

the fundamental carrier of

electric charge. 

Project members generate,

manipulate, and detect single

photons, which require

making nanoscale structures

a few tens of atoms wide or

less. Confined in this manner,

the photons and electrons

exhibit “quantum” properties

much different from those

physical properties exhibited

by larger objects. 

In particular, the uncertainty

associated with large numbers

of particles can be eliminated,

and measurement accuracy 

to the fundamental limit

can be achieved. 

The single-photon emitters

and true photon counters

developed at NIST enable its

scientists to produce and

characterize new quantum

states of light that will push

measurement science far

beyond its current limits over

the next decade.

This project develops semiconductor

nanostructures, especially selfassembled quantum dots and

photonic crystals, for a variety of

applications including single

photonics, laser diodes, and

quantum optical metrology. It also

develops quantum optical metrology

based on other sources and

detectors (not based on

semiconductor nanostructures). It

collaborates extensively with the

Quantum Information and Terahertz

Technology Project and with JILA to

accomplish some of its goals. 

Semiconductor quantum dot

sources of single photons and

entangled photon pairs offer many

advantages compared to competing

quantum emitter sources. The

quantum dots can be tailored to

emit at specific wavelengths. The

spontaneous emission lifetime is 1

ns, which leads to very high rates of

single-photon emission. Perhaps

the biggest advantage of these

sources is that they are easily

integrated with high-finesse

cavities, enabling even faster

emission and directional output.

High-speed and high-efficiency

single-photon sources are an

important enabler of quantum

communications and the

traceability of optical power to the

photon.

Quantum-dot-based detectors of

single photons exhibit linear gain at

ultralow photon fluxes, which

enables them to count the number

of photons in a pulse of light. The

photon number-resolving capability

of the detector developed by the

Nanostructure Fabrication and

Metrology Project is unique in

compound-semiconductor-based

devices.

Quantum dot lasers were initially

investigated because they were

expected to have low threshold

currents, have high differential

gain and modulation bandwidths,

and be temperature-insensitive.

Although not all of these

predictions have been realized,

quantum dot lasers have

demonstrated some previously

unpredicted and unusual behavior.

This project, in collaboration with

JILA, has recently demonstrated

wavelength bistability in a twosection monolithic quantum dot

laser and also a “dark pulse” laser,

a novel pulsed laser in which the

pulses have lower intensity than

the DC level.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed a photon-number resolving detector based on quantum dots

(Quantum Dot Optically Gated Field Effect Transistor, QDOGFET).

• Demonstrated a type of mode-locked laser that produces “dark pulses.”

• Demonstrated a bistable, switchable quantum dot laser.

• Developed spectral-hole-burning technique to demonstrate that exciton

coherence time in a quantum dot is limited only by the spontaneous emission

lifetime.

• Measured g(3) and g(4), the third- and fourth-order intensity correlation,

from a pseudothermal source of light.

Selected Publications

• E. J. Gansen, M. A. Rowe, M. B. Greene, D. Rosenberg, T. E. Harvey, M. Y. Su,

R. H. Hadfield, S. W. Nam, R. P. Mirin, “Photon-Number-Discriminating

Detection Using a Quantum-Dot, Optically Gated, Field-effect Transistor,”

Nature Photonics 1, 585 (2007)

• M. Feng, N. A. Brilliant, S. T. Cundiff, R. P. Mirin, K. L. Silverman,

“Wavelength Bistability in Two-Section Mode-Locked Quantum-Dot Diode

Lasers,” IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett. 19, 804 (2007)

• J. J. Berry, M. J. Stevens, R. P. Mirin, K. L. Silverman, “High-Resolution

Spectral Hole Burning in InxGa1-xAs/GaAs Quantum Dots,” Appl. Phys. Lett.

88, 061114 (2006)

Contact

Richard Mirin

(303) 497-7955

richard.mirin@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 49

Figure 1. A scanning

electron micrograph of a

QDOGFET device used for

photon-number resolving

detection.
Description

50 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

SEMICONDUCTOR GROWTH

AND DEVICES

Summary

At the heart of a DVD player,

or in the fiber optic system

that transmits telephone calls

and data, lies a tiny crystal of

semiconductor that emits

laser light. That

semiconductor chip has been

produced, or “grown,” in a

sophisticated piece of

equipment to make it pure

and efficient for light

generation and detection. 

This project advances cuttingedge research in improving

semiconductor crystal growth

for devices that generate,

control, and sense light. 

One emphasis is on precisely

growing nanowires onethousand times narrower than

a human hair. These

structures hold promise for

enabling high-efficiency solar

energy cells and energysaving lighting to combat our

nation’s dependence on fossil

fuel, as well as microscopic

sensors and lasers for the

early detection and treatment

of cancer. 

Compound semiconductor materials

form the basis for the diode lasers,

LEDs, photodetectors, and highefficiency solar cells critical to optical

communication, display, data

storage, and energy conservation and

generation. Many of these semi -

conductor devices now incor porate

structures with a high degree of

strain and nanostructures so small

that the properties of the devices

depend on their physical dimensions

as well as the bulk materials

properties. 

A major focus in this project is the

growth and processing of GaN

nanowires for nanometrology and

device applications. Staff in the

project have grown GaN nanowires

with catalyst-free molecular beam

epitaxy (MBE) that are strain-free,

very low in chemical impurities, and

usually entirely free of structural

defects. These properties lead to

high optical emission intensity,

consistent doping behavior, and

high mechanical resonance quality

factors, all of which are needed for

future technical applications that

will surpass GaN thin films in

performance. The nanowire archi -

tecture is also a framework for

inventing new characterization

tools and devices. A simple example

is that the optical emission can be

used to measure externally applied

strain. Future devices will extend

this work on nanowires-astransistors and light emitters to

include nanowire lasers, biosensor

applications, near-field optical

probes, oscillators for com -

munications equipment, singlephoton emitters and detec tors, and

integration of photonics with

silicon circuitry. 

The scientific understanding needed

to engineer these devices will make

use of this project’s basic research in

quantum dot and nanowire

nucleation and growth mechanisms,

including the role of strain in

nanostructures. This project supports

manufacturing of compound

semiconductor devices with the

world’s only composition standards

for these materials. EEEL staff also

lead a cavity ringdown spectroscopy

program that focuses on direct

measurement of impurities in the

source gases used in compound

semiconductor manufacturing.

Researchers have achieved sensitivity

below 50 nmol mol-1 for water in

arsine and below 10 nmol mol-1 for

water in phosphine. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Grew and characterized defect-free GaN nanowires, leading to an R&D Micro

Nano 25 Award for NIST in 2006.

• Developed a comprehensive model for estimating carrier concentration and

mobility based on nanowire resistance.

• Explained the role of growth parameters in the uniformity of InGaAs

quantum dot size and spacing.

• Applied, for the first time, cavity ringdown spectroscopy to measure water

vapor as a contaminant in arsine and phosphine. 

• Released AlGaAs composition Standard Reference Materials in 2006.

Selected Publications 

• L. M. Mansfield, K. A. Bertness, P. T. Blanchard, T. E. Harvey, A. W. Sanders, N.

A. Sanford, “GaN Nanowire Carrier Concentration Calculated from Light and

Dark Resistance Measurements,” submitted to the Journal of Electronic

Materials (2008)

• K. A. Bertness, A. Roshko, L. M. Mansfield, T. E. Harvey, N. A. Sanford,

“Mechanism for Spontaneous Growth of GaN Nanowires with Molecular Beam

Epitaxy,” Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 310, 3154-3158 (2008)

• S. M. Tanner, J. M. Gray, C. T. Rogers, K. A. Bertness, N. A. Sanford, “High-Q

GaN Nanowire Resonators and Oscillators,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 91,

203117 (2007)

Contact

Kris Bertness

(303) 497-5069

kristine.bertness@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 51

Figure 1. Scanning

electron microscopy

picture of GaN nanowires

grown with catalyst-free

MBE, with insert showing

nanowire tips. Note the

hexagonal cross-section,

consistent high aspect

ratio, and flexibility of

nanowires. 
Description

52 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

OPTICAL MATERIALS

METROLOGY

Summary

The 21st century has

heightened needs for

conserving energy, producing

clean energy at low cost, and

providing safety and security

at home and abroad. To fully

optimize energy-efficient

lighting and displays, nextgeneration solar cells, and

sensors, NIST scientists are

measuring the critical

properties of optical materials.

Especially important are nanoengineered structures for new

technologies, since the

fundamental properties of

nanostructures are not the

same as those for bulk

materials. This project has

made remarkable advances in

developing measurement tools

and methods for optical

materials that enable

enhanced products. A

particular focus is on

semiconductor nanowires, a

breakthrough technology

offering superior capabilities

for future-generation

microscopes, lighting,

photovoltaics, cell phones, and

other electronics.

It is internationally recognized that

LED-based solid-state lighting

using III-nitride semiconductors

(GaN, AlGaN, InGaN) is poised to

significantly reduce energy

demand for the 21st century.

Illumination consumes approxi -

mately 30 % of the U.S. energy

budget. Due to various comp -

lications, conventional planar LEDs

made from these materials are

inherently inefficient. Moreover,

the planar morphology also results

in low-light extraction efficiency.

There is much room for improving

LEDs in order to meet the looming

worldwide demands on reduced

lighting costs in the face of

mounting energy costs.

NIST scientists found that the GaN

is fundamentally superior when

grown as nanowires instead of

planar films. They also quickly

realized that dense nanowire

arrays would enable LEDs with

greatly improved light extraction

efficiency. These findings, con -

clusions, and motivations aimed at

developing nanowires for LED

illumination technology have been

arrived at independently by

competing research groups around

the world. EEEL is in a strong

position since EEEL-grown nano -

wires are proven to be some of the

best in the world, and NIST has

developed new metrology methods

to analyze these nanostructures.

EEEL staff can also grow nanowires

on silicon substrates, thus enabling

numerous possibilities in new

device integration. Recently,

project staff teamed with a DARPA

sponsored “iMINT” University

Focus Center on nanotechnology.

Of 11 such Centers now sponsored

by the DARPA MTO office, DARPA

has publicly recognized NIST’s

progress in GaN nanowires as one

of the 3 most significant outcomes

of all 11 Centers. The dense

nanowire morphology also enables

improved light collection effi -

ciency. Recent advances include

starting work to use nanowires for

improving photovoltaic devices as

well.

Nanowire LEDs and lasers are also

developed for new active-tip nearfield scanning optical microscopy

(NSOM) tools for metrology.

Additionally, EEEL researchers are

working on the application of

nanowires for cancer research and

advanced sensors for biological

and chemical agents.
Major Accomplishments 

• Demonstrated the first core-sleeve nanowire heterostructures employing

MBE-grown Si-doped cores and HVPE-grown Mg-doped sleeves.

• Demonstrated the best measurement to date for the surface recombination

velocity of GaN.

• Demonstrated the best GaN nanowire Metal-Semiconductor Field Effect

Transistor (MESFET) devices to date.

• Demonstrated the use of steady state and transient photoconductivity to

estimate carrier concentration, mobility, and capture cross section for

nanowires.

• Demonstrated nanowire UV detectors sensitive to only a few hundred

photons per second.

Selected Publications 

• B. Schlager, K. A. Bertness, P. T. Blanchard, L. H. Robins, A. Roshko, N. A.

Sanford, “Steady-State and Time-Resolved Photoluminescence from Relaxed

and Strained GaN Nanowires Grown by Catalyst-Free Molecular-Beam Epitaxy,”

Journal of Applied Physics 103, 124309 (2008)

• P. T. Blanchard, K. A. Bertness, T. E. Harvey, L. M. Mansfield, A. W. Sanders, N.

A. Sanford, “Metal-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MESFETs) Made

from Individual GaN Nanowires,” IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology (to be

published, 2008)

• S. M. Tanner, J. M. Gray, C. T. Rogers, K. A. Bertness, N. A. Sanford, “High-Q

GaN Nanowire Resonators and Oscillators,” Applied Physics Letters 91, 203117

(2007)

Contact

Norman A. Sanford

(303) 497-5239

norman.sanford@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 53

Figure 1. GaN nanowire MESFET shown in (a)

plan view and (b) tilted. Note hexagonal shape of

the underlying nanowire as revealed in the

overlaying gate contact. Nanowire grown by MBE

at NIST-Boulder. Graph illustrates operation of

MESFET device. 

Figure 2. Core-sleeve p-n GaN nanowire

heterostructure. n-type Si-doped core and

p-type Mg-doped sleeve are indicated.

Core grown by MBE at NIST-Boulder,

sleeve subsequently overgrown by HVPE at

NIST-Gaithersburg.
54 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 55

The Quantum Electrical Metrology Division unites fundamental electrical metrology and

leading-edge quantum-based measurement research to create a dynamic organization

with a mission to lead quantum electrical metrology into the future. The division consists

of three groups: Fundamental Electrical Measurements, Applied Electrical Metrology,

and Quantum Devices. The first two groups are located in Gaithersburg, MD, and boast

of a proud 100-year history of precision electrical metrology. The Quantum Devices

Group located in Boulder, CO, brings a 35-year history of creating world-leading

quantum-based standards and measurement systems. The division works to provide the

world’s best electrically based measurements and standards.

The project descriptions that follow give a detailed description of the work underway in

the division. The research falls into three general categories. The division has the

responsibility to realize and advance our understanding of the fundamental electrical

“units,” including the volt (both DC and AC), the ohm, and the farad. This work also

extends to measuring fundamental constants, with world-leading work on measuring

Planck’s constant through electrical measurements using a Watt balance and new work

measuring Boltzmann’s constant through electrical (Johnson) noise. The division also

provides U.S. industry and other National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) with connection

to the electrical units through calibration services and measurement expertise. This

includes interlaboratory comparisons and more recently the creation and dissemination

of quantum-based electrical standards that allow the highest level of measurement

precision to be achieved outside of NIST. Finally, the division uses its expertise in

electrical measurements and quantum effects to develop new measurement methods

and systems that extend our capabilities into new regimes, such as quantum voltage

systems, quantum computing and quantum limited measurements, and quantum

sensors for electromagnetic radiation from microwaves through gamma rays.

The division has a staff of about 120, which includes government employees as well as

guest researchers, post-doctoral associates, contractors, and graduate and

undergraduate students. With facilities on both the Gaithersburg and Boulder

campuses, the division has far-reaching ties with universities, government agencies,

other NMIs, and U.S. industry. The division’s outreach, which also includes visiting

industrial and other sites, attending and sponsoring conferences, and hosting

numerous visitors at both campuses, greatly increases the impact and dissemination of

our work.

QUANTUM ELECTRICAL METROLOGY

DIVISION
Description

56 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

QUANTUM VOLTAGE 

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 

AND DISSEMINATION

Summary

Accurate representation of

the volt and precise

techniques for measuring

voltage are essential to the

electrical and electronics

industries. 

Determining how to do this

throughout the U.S. with

extraordinary accuracy is

one of the main roles

of EEEL. 

This is accomplished by

developing new quantum

standards using Josephson

junctions, superconductorbased devices whose

quantum behavior makes

them perfect frequency-tovoltage converters. EEEL

scientists are using this

property to create

extremely accurate DC and

AC voltage standards and

also to develop novel

methods for the precise

measurement of other

fundamental electrical

quantities.

In 1990, an international agreement

redefined the volt in terms of the

voltage generated by a superconduc -

ting integrated circuit developed

jointly at NIST and the PhysikalischTechnische Bundesanstalt (PTB),

Germany's NMI. The circuit contains

thousands of Josephson junctions,

each one a sandwich consisting of an

insulating layer between two

superconducting segments and

having a typical thickness of a few

hundred nanometers.

Current will flow across a Josephson

junction despite the insulating layer,

and, with alternating current (ac), a

voltage develops across the junction

that is exactly proportional to the ac

frequency. This relationship depends

only on fundamental constants of

quantum physics and does not

depend on the physical properties of

the junction, such as its dimensions

or environmental conditions like

temperature. Josephson junctions,

as perfect frequency-to-voltage

converters, provide a quantum basis

for a voltage standard because

frequencies can be defined with

enormous precision. 

Josephson voltage standard systems

have been deployed around the

world since 1990, greatly improving

the uniformity of voltage measure -

ments. One key development at NIST

is the programmable Josephson

voltage standard (PJVS) system,

which can provide desired voltages

with an uncertainty better than a

few parts in a billion. PJVS replicas

are used at NIST and throughout the

world to provide voltage calibrations

for a variety of applications,

particularly experiments that

measure other electrical units. The

system is regularly used in the NIST

voltage calibration lab and is also

being implemented in a novel electric

power calibration system that will

provide the electric power industry

with the world's most precise

electrical standards, which, in turn,

support the reliable operation of the

electrical power grid.

Project scientists have also made

substantial improvements to the

process of accurately transferring a

fundamental standard to end users.

For example, we have developed a

portable, compact Josephson voltage

standard (CJVS) that scientists can

carry with them to compare Josephson

voltage systems in different

geographic locations. The CJVS

decreased end-user uncertainty by a

factor of 10 or better.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed an ac Josephson voltage standard (ACJVS) that provides the most

accurate ac voltage measurements ever made. 

• Developed a protocol to successfully compare the NIST Compact Josephson

Voltage Standard (CJVS) with the JVS of National Research Council (NRC)

Canada. 

• Performed a direct JVS comparison with Lockheed Martin Mission Services in

Denver and found a difference between the two systems of a few parts in 1010,

a result that supports traceability of SI units for U.S. industry and other

government agencies.

Selected Publications

• Y. Tang, “Application of NIST Compact Josephson Voltage Standard for

Intercomparison,” Proceedings of International Conference on Advances in

Metrology 2006, Dec.11 -16, 2006, New Delhi, India (2006)

• S. K. Jaiswal, J. Sims, and Y. Tang, “Characterization of a Low Thermal Scanner for

Automatic Voltage Measurement with the NIST Josephson Voltage Standard,”

Measurement Science Conference Proceedings, January 22 - 26, 2007, Long Beach,

CA (2007)

• T. E. Lipe, J. R. Kinard, Y. Tang and J. E. Sims, “Improvements in the NIST Calibration

Service for Thermal Transfer Standards,” NCSLI MEASURE, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 70-74

(2007)

Contact

Thomas Lipe

(301) 975-4251

thomas.lipe@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 57

Figure 3. NIST provided a link for Centro Nacional de Metrología (CENAM) to Bureau

International des Poids et Measures (BIPM) via a JVS comparison (notice that the pink

point representing the CENAM measurement has one of the best links to BIPM).

Figure 1. Set up the direct JVS comparison between

the NRC JVS, Canada, and NIST compact JVS.

Figure 2. ACJVS system installed at NISTGaithersburg.
Description

58 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

METROLOGY OF THE OHM 

Summary

Resistance standards traceable to

NIST provide references for

measurements of current at levels

from 2000 A to below 1 pA and are

used to support a wide variety of

impedance, temperature, strain,

and power measurements. This

project develops the technology of

quantum electrical measurements

including the world’s best highresistance standards and

superconducting quantum

interference device (SQUID)-based

scaling techniques. EEEL maintains

close working relationships with

researchers in other leading NMIs

and successfully completed 2

bilateral comparisons with the

Bureau International des Poids et

Measures (BIPM) and piloted 5

international key comparisons in

the past 10 years. This leadership

has resulted in collaborative

research to develop and deploy

sophisticated multi-function, highprecision, and low-maintenance

cryogenic current comparators

(CCCs) of a new NIST design, which

have been installed and tested at

NIST and are being installed at

NMIs in Argentina, Australia,

and Mexico.

The Ohm Project has been a

leader in providing internationally

consistent resistance standards

that are readily available to

support the scientific and

industrial foundations of the U.S.

economy. Through this very broad

customer base, the activities of

the project enable cost-effective

electrical measurements at NIST

and at more than 300 U.S. sites,

leading to improved performance

of products and services in a

competitive world environment.

The resistance calibration service

brings a yearly income to NIST of

several hundred thousands of

dollars as well as supporting over

a dozen other calibration areas.

Project staff members provide

extensive customer contact and

consultation on topics including

teraohmmeter measurements, the

characterization processes used

with resistive shunts at very high

current levels, and power loading

measurements to support a recent

Air Force contract. Project

scientists work in the U.S. and

international communities,

including support for

comparisons at low, moderate,

and high resistance levels and

development of improved

standards and techniques for

better agreement between

primary references.

The project collaborates in

research on nanometer scale

single-electron devices

designed as biometric sensors,

and two members participate in

the new Quantum Conductance

Project that aims to develop

quantum Hall resistance (QHR)

devices from graphene. Project

staff members pursue

scientific breakthroughs to

m a i n t a i n a c c u r a t e l o c a l

representations of the unit

(conventional standards) and

to develop improved quantum

metrology, including the recent

introduction of resistivewinding cryogenic current

comparators (CCCs) that

enable stable SQUID operation

with improved current

sensitivity. This advance was

combined with a two-terminal

CCC bridge design that NIST

developed in the 1970s, and

provides the world’s only direct

CCC scaling from the QHR to

resistance values from 100 k to

100 M and above.
Major Accomplishments 

• Piloted SIM Key Comparisons at 1 Ω, 1 MΩ, and 1 GΩ; developed analysis to link

Systema Interamericano de Metrología (SIM) NMIs to the international

community.

• Automated and reported 1000 V dual-calibrator bridge measurements using

fully guarded robotic actuators.

• Developed CCCs for scaling up to 1 GΩ with multiple links to the QHR standard;

disseminating the measurement techniques to three other NMIs.

• At CPEM08, presented CCC work, SIM results, and teraohmmeter automation.

Collaborated on two papers presented by other NMIs.

• At NCSLI-2008, presented papers on power loading in 1 Ω resistors and

teraohmmeter procedures.

Selected Publications 

• R. E. Elmquist, D. G. Jarrett, N. F. Zhang, “SIM RMO Comparison Report; 1 Ω, 1

MΩ, and 1 GΩ,” submitted to BIPM, to be published in Metrologia Tech. Supp.

(2008)

• G. R. Jones and R. E. Elmquist, “Power Loading Effects in Precision 1 Ω Resistors,”

NCSLI Conf. Proc., August 3-7, 2008. Extended version accepted for NCSLI

Measure (2008)

• D. G. Jarrett, M. E. Kraft, I. Castro, B. Degler, M. Evans “Procedures for the

Traceability of High-R esistance Standards Using a Teraohmmeter,” NCSLI Conf.

Proc., August 3-7, 2008. Extended version accepted for NCSLI Measure (2008)

Contact

Rand Elmquist

(301) 975-6591

elmquist@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 59

Figure 2. Guest Researcher Dr. F.

Hernandez (CENAM, Mexico) tests

one of four high-resistance CCC

systems constructed in 2008.

Figure 1. Guest Researcher Marcos Bierzychudek

(INTI, Argentina) with R. Elmquist and M. Kraft

setting up a CCC cryostat in the AML Resistance lab.

Figure 3. Summer Undergraduate Research

Fellowship researcher A. Mercado helps

deve lop a characterization process for insu -

lating materials to be used in a NASA probe.
Description

60 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

QUANTUM CONDUCTANCE/

GRAPHENE-BASED

QUANTUM METROLOGY

Summary

Graphene is a new material

with truly extraordinary

electronic properties that has

great potential in many areas

where conventional materials

are running into obstacles.

Although conceptually

graphene is an unrolled

carbon nanotube (CNT),

graphene transcends the

limitations of CNTs by

offering the potential to

fabricate complete systems

entirely out of graphene,

ranging from the macro to

nanoscale. The opportunities

for both exciting new science

and important applications

have led to an explosion

of research on graphene

at universities, domestic and

foreign national labs, and

industrial labs. 

The goal of the Quantum

Conductance Project is to

develop graphene metrology

for intrinsic electrical

standards, specifically nearroom-temperature 

quantum Hall resistance

standards.

Progress in fundamental electrical

standards and electronics is usually

incremental and based on brute force

engineering with sporadic episodes

of ingenuity. Graphene represents

one of these rare opportunities to

dramatically improve measurement

capabilities by utilizing a completely

new scientific principle. However,

application of the truly unique

characteristics of graphene requires

measuring the physical properties and

developing new fabrication methods.

EEEL’s efforts are currently focused

on developing graphene to advance

NIST’s core mission – specifically, the

development of intrinsic quantum

electrical standards and metrology to

enable the development of innovative

future electronics.

Since the first quantum Hall

resistance (QHR) standards were

developed over 25 years ago,

fabrication of improved GaAsGaAlAs heterostructures has been a

goal of leading National Metrology

Institutes (NMIs) around the world;

however, they are consistently in

short supply because of the difficulty

in producing even moderate quality

QHR standards. Operating today’s

QHR devices requires extensive

cryogenic equipment and expertise;

thus NMIs currently disseminate

resistance through artifact standards.

These have limited accuracy and are

inherently unstable, resulting in time

consuming and costly calibrations.

New graphene-based QHR standards

with higher-temperature operation

have the promise to greatly improve

the dissemination of quantum-based

resistance metrology to customers.

In microelectronics, it is well known

that the continuation of Moore’s Law

is already facing major challenges in

power management and is being

confronted by the discreteness of

matter itself. The U.S. semiconductor

industry spends billions of dollars to

make incremental advances and

desperately needs technology that

transcends CMOS limitations. The

major semiconductor industries have

established consortia such as the

Nanoelectronics Research Initiative

(NRI) to direct various laboratories

(academic, national, and corporate)

to come up with visionary solutions to

the foreshadowed limitations in

silicon. Graphene promises to be one

of these potential solutions, and we

will exploit the new opportunities for

discovery offered by graphene that

specifically apply to electrical

metrology.
Major Accomplishments 

• Organized collaborative research program on graphene with other NIST

Laboratories and leading U.S. research groups.

• Fabricated exfoliated graphene on Si/SiO2 substrate for testing.

• Fabricated first graphene devices at NIST in the Center for Nanoscale Science

and Technology (CNST).

• Measured external collaborator’s graphene quantum resistance standard against

national resistance standards to 3 %.

Selected Publications 

• D. Petrovykh, H. Kimura-Suda, A. Opdahl, L. Richter, M. J. Tarlov, L. Whitman,

"Alkanethiols on Platinum: Multicomponent Self-Assembled Monolayers," Langmuir,

Vol. 22, No. No. 6, (2006)

• D. Petrovykh, V. Perez-Dieste, A. Opdahl, H. Kimura-Suda, J. Sullivan, M. J. Tarlov, F.

Himpsel, L. Whitman, "Nucleobase Orientation and Ordering in Films of SingleStranded DNA on Gold," Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 128, No. 1,

(2006)

• K. Balss, C. T. Avedisian, R. Cavicchi, M. J. Tarlov, "Nanosecond Imaging of Microboiling

Behavior on Pulsed-Heated Au Films Modified With Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic SelfAssembled Monolayers," Langmuir, Vol. 21, No. No. 23, (2005)

Contact

David Newell

(301) 975-4228

david.newell@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 61

Figure 1. Graphene Hall bar

developed at NIST by

undergraduate students.

Figure 2. Graphene Hall

plateaus measured with

respect to national

standards.

Figure 1. Graphene Hall bar

developed at NIST by

undergraduate students.
Description

62 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

AC-DC DIFFERENCE 

Summary

Extremely accurate

measurements of an

unchanging voltage signal

can be made relatively

routinely using a quantum

voltage source. However,

for many real-life

applications, the accurate

measurement of a varying

electrical signal is a more

important and challenging

measurement need. The

NIST AC-DC Difference

Project provides U.S.

industry with the essential

link between ac and the

corresponding DC electrical

standards via a world-class

calibration service, and,

through cutting-edge

research into new AC-DC

difference measurement

techniques, employs both

quantum standards and

standards fabricated in

novel ways.

The use of thermal converters for ac

voltage metrology was introduced by

Frank Hermach at NIST in 1952. The

basic thermal converter is a thermo -

element, consisting of a thermocouple

positioned at the midpoint of a heater

wire, enclosed in an evacuated bulb.

The thermoelement senses the heat

generated by an electrical signal applied

to the heater. By comparing the heating

effect of an unknown AC signal to that

of the average of both polarities of a

known DC signal, the Root Mean

Square (RMS) AC quantity may be

measured in terms of the known DC

quantity, giving the AC-DC difference

of the thermal converter. The traditio -

nal thermo element has an input voltage

of a few volts or an input current of a

few milliamperes, with a best

uncertainty of about 1 μV/V or μA/A

over the frequency range from 10 Hz to

1 MHz. In combination with a precision

resistor or shunt, the thermal converter

is commonly used at voltages up to

1000 V and currents up to 100 A and, in

combination with amplifier circuits, is

used at voltages as low as 2 mV.

The fundamental errors in thermo -

elements are thermoelectric errors,

produced when a current flows through

a temperature gra dient. These thermo -

electric errors may be reduced by

adding more thermocouples and using

the thermoelement at a reduced input

amplitude. The resulting device, the

Multi junction Thermal Converter

(MJTC), is the most accurate means of

measuring AC voltage and current at

voltages above 500 mV and currents up

to 50 mA; uncertain ties of about 5x10-7

or less are possible in the audio

frequency. Unfor tunately, tradi tional

MJTCs made with wire are difficult to

make and nearly impossible to obtain.

To address this problem, NIST is presently

making MJTCs using semiconductor

fabrication techniques. These devices fall

into two broad categories; one type of

MJTCs is designed for high-frequency AC

voltage metrology, the other for highcurrent AC metrology. The highfrequency MJTCs (Fig. 1) are fabricated

on quartz substrates, for reduced

dielectric loss, and are predicted to have

very small AC-DC differences up to 100

MHz at a few volts. The high-current

MJTCs (Fig. 2) have very large heater

structures capable of taking currents up

to 1 A. We plan to parallel up to eight of

these high-current MJTCs in a single

module to achieve a 10 A current

converter. Initial results are very encoura -

ging, and we anticipate using both of

these MJTCs in our measurement services

before the end of the year. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Fabricated prototype multijunction thermal converters based on quartz substrates

for AC voltage measurements up to 100 MHz.

• Fabricated prototype multijunction thermal converters based on silicon substrates for

AC current measurements up to 1 A.

• Began dissemination of AC voltage based on ACJVS, providing the most accurate

calibrations of AC-DC difference ever made.

• Reduced current converter uncertainties at 100 A and 100 kHz from about 1200 μA/A

to about 200 μA/A using NIST-built two-stage current transformers and shunts.

Selected Publications

• T. E. Lipe, J. R. Kinard, Y. Tang, S. P. Benz, C. J. Burroughs, P. D. Dresselhaus, “Thermal

Voltage Converter Calibrations using a Quantum AC Source,” Metrologia, vol. 45, pp.

275-280 (2008)

• P. S. Filipski, J. R. Kinard, T. E. Lipe, Y. Tang, S. P. Benz, “Correction of Systematic Errors

Due to the Voltage Leads in AC Josephson Voltage Standard,” in CPEM 2008 Digest, pp.

598-599, CPEM 2008, Broomfield, CO (2008)

• L. Scarioni, T. E. Lipe, J. R. Kinard, “Design and Fabrication of MJTCs on Quartz Substrates

at NIST,” in CPEM 2008 Digest, pp. 648-649, CPEM 2008, Broomfield, CO (2008)

Contact

Thomas E. Lipe

(301) 975-4251

thomas.lipe@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 63

In addition to new artifact standards, in

collaboration with the Quantum

Voltage Project, we are developing a

quantum standard for AC voltage,

based on pulse-programmable

Josephson Junctions. We have already

provided a quantum-based calibration

to a customer with reductions in

uncertainty of as much as 98 % over

uncertainties obtained using traditional

scaling techniques. The AC Josephson

Voltage Standard (ACJVS, Fig. 3)

promises unprecedented reductions in

uncertainty over its operating range of

2 mV to about 275 mV and, coupled

with MJTCs, should allow us to

substantially reduce the uncertainties

for AC voltage metrology.

Figure 3. 

ACJVS system installed 

at NIST-Gaithersburg.

Figure 1. Photograph of quartz-based

multijunction thermal converter.

Figure 2. Photograph of 1 A MJTC

current converter.
Description

64 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

FARAD AND IMPEDANCE

METROLOGY 

Summary

Accurate capacitance

measurements are essential for

electronic systems and sensors.

This project aims to provide 

the world’s best basis for

accurate impedance

measurements by tying 

the U.S. legal system of

electrical units to the

International System of Units

(SI) through the realization of

the SI unit of capacitance. 

This work also forms the

foundation of NIST’s

measurement services for

electrical impedance, ensuring a

sound metrological basis for

impedance measurements, both

nationally and internationally,

and ensuring that the claims of

measurement accuracy by U.S.

industries are recognized and

accepted worldwide. 

The need continues for a better

representation of capacitance

and also for better calibration

tools at NIST with which

researchers can objectively

verify claims of improved

performance specifications, to

achieve consistency and help

avoid technical trade barriers.

The primary facility for connecting

the U.S. legal system of electrical

units to the international system of

units is the NIST calculable

capacitor, with which the measure -

ment of capacitance is effectively

achieved through a measurement of

length. Both the calculable capacitor

and the chain of high-precision

measurements that transfers the SI

unit to the calibration laboratories is

maintained, improved, and com -

pared with other National Metro -

logy Institutes to ensure measure -

ment consistency on an interna -

tional level.

Over the last few decades, NIST has

successfully invested in two key

quantum representations of

electrical quantities; both the

Quantum Hall Resistance (QHR) and

Josephson Voltage standards have

now achieved measurement uncer -

tainties approaching parts in 109.

These quantum standards, however,

represent only a few points in a

multi-dimensional world of elec -

trical measurements. The crucial link

between the fundamental electrical

standards and commercial electronic

instrumentation is provided by

precision ac measure ment stan -

dards. A combination of transfor -

mer techniques and modern Digital

Signal Processor (DSP) techniques

has the potential to extend our

expertise over a much wider

dynamic range.

Consistency between resistance and

impedance measurement services

from NIST is expected by the

instrumentation industry and

DOD laboratories. An improved

resistance-capacitance (RC) link is

also needed to realize the farad

from the QHR standard, if the

proposed redefinition of the SI

occurs in the near future, and to

advance basic research such as

closing the quantum metrology

triangle. 

Development of wideband

impedance measurement services

requires reference standards that

can be characterized over the

impedance and frequency ranges of

interest. NIST has developed a

system to characterize commercial

four-terminal-pair capacitance

standards from 1 pF to 1 nF over the

frequency range from 1 kHz to 10

MHz. A bootstrapping technique

using an LCR meter and an inductive

voltage divider can extend the

characterization to higher-valued

capacitance standards up to 10 μF.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed a DSP-based signal generator that can be phase and frequency

locked to a Josephson source, enabling the development of a quantum

electrical power standard.

• Developed concept for new calculable capacitor based on laser frequency

combs.

• Developed a programmable capacitance standard to provide capacitance

values from 100 pF to 10 μF with a resolution of 1 pF.

• Orchestrated and led a capacitance key comparison for many countries in

South, North, and Central America.

Selected Publications 

• B. C. Waltrip, B. Gong, T. L. Nelson, C. J. Burroughs, A. Rüfenacht, S. P. Benz, P.

D. Dresselhaus, Y. Wang, “Ac Power Standard Using a Programmable Josephson

Voltage Standard,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement

(2009, accepted)

• Y. Wang, R. D. Lee, L. Lu, J. Lawall, A. Chijioke, “Next-Generation Calculable

Capacitor Using a Tunable-Laser Interferometer,” Digest of Conference on

Precision Electromagnetic Measurements (CPEM 2008), Broomfield, Colorado

(2008)

• R. D. Lee, Y. Wang, G. J. FitzPatrick, “3-d Field Simulation to Design a Calculable

Capacitor,” Digest of Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements

(CPEM 2008), Broomfield, Colorado (2008)

Contact

Yicheng Wang

(301) 975-4278

ywang@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 65

Figure 1. Setting up an automated system

for determining the frequency

dependence of fused-silica capacitors.

Figure 2. Performing a special test for

a four-terminal-pair capacitance

standard.
Description

66 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

ELECTRONIC KILOGRAM 

Summary

The unit of mass is still

defined for the world by a

1 kg lump of metal kept in

Paris, France. This artifact

mass standard is suffering

from 120 years of wear and

contamination, so its value

over time is becoming

uncertain at several parts

in 108. While this is a very

small amount of change, it

has great implications for

deterring the values of

science’s fundamental

constants. As a potential

replacement, the Electronic

Kilogram Project compares

the energy in power

generated by mechanical

and electrical means.

Einstein’s famous equation

E=mc 2 relates this energy

measurement to mass. The

electronic kilogram will

define mass in terms of

quantum mechanical

systems similar to the

second (atomic clocks) and

the meter (laser

wavelength), which are all

unchanging in time. 

NIST has led the world since 1998

with three consistent results for

the determination of Planck’s

constant (a fundamental constant

related to mass). The most recent

NIST value reported in 2005 has

the lowest uncertainty so far, at 36

parts in 109. Two results from the

National Physical Laboratory (NPL)

in England and one from the

Avogadro International Consortium have varied by 300 and

1000 parts in 109, respectively. This

shows that significant progress has

been made since the first NPL

result in 1988, but also shows how

difficult and complicated this

experiment is.

Four international laboratories

besides NIST are working with the

same technique. In the

experiment, a mass balance uses

a precisely aligned induction coil

in a high-stability magnetic field,

where a current applied to the

coil provides an electromagnetic

force in opposi tion to the

gravitational attraction on a mass

standard. As a necessary and

complementary measurement,

the coil is moved to generate a

voltage while recording the coil

velocity. The reference quantities

of mass, time, length, voltage,

and resistance are based on inlab peripheral systems: mass

artifacts, GPS, laser interfero -

meter, Josephson array volt

system, and quantum Hall

calibrated standard resistor.

Precise measurement, calibration,

and other instrumentation issues

must be well characterized, which

is why this type of experiment is

best and only performed at

national standards laboratories.

The International Committee for

Weights and Measures (CIPM) has

recommended a redefinition when

the experiment proves its

feasibility with several labs

reproducing a consistent result

within the present NIST uncer -

tainty. With the next opportunity

occurring in 2011, the race is on to

improve the experiments and

trigger a change in the

International System of Units (SI)

that will provide a quantum-based

matrix of units for the foreseeable

future, permanently stabilizing

both scientific measurements and

commercial standardization in

production and trade of electrical,

mass, and force measurement

equipment.
Major Accomplishments 

• Reported the lowest uncertainty in the world of 36 x 10-9 on a value of the Planck

constant in 2005 that was consistent with original value reported in 1998.

• Publications of April 2005 Metrologia paper sparked CIPM decision to consider

redefinition of kilogram.

Selected Publications

• R. Steiner, E. Williams, R. Liu, D. Newell, “Uncertainty Improvements of the

NIST Electronic Kilogram,” IEEE Trans. on Instrum. and Meas., vol. 56, no. 2,

pp. 592-596 (2007)

• M. Mills, P. J. Mohr, T. J. Quinn, B. N. Taylor, E. R. Williams, “Redefinition of the

Kilogram, Ampere, Kelvin and Mole: a Proposed Approach to Implementing CIPM

Recommendation 1 (CI-2005),” Metrologia, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 227–46 (2005)

• M. Mills, P. J. Mohr, T. J. Quinn, B. N. Taylor, E. R. Williams, “Redefinition of the

Kilogram: a Decision Whose Time Has Come,” Metrologia, vol. 42 no. 2, pp. 71-80

(2005)

Contact

Richard Steiner

(301) 975-4226

richard.steiner@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 67

Figure 1.

Artifact International Prototype

Kilogram (IPK).

Figure 2.

NIST Electronic Kilogram.

Figure 3. 

Time comparison of scatter in the IPK

copies versus the present scatter in

NIST e-kilogram data.
Description

68 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

ELECTRIC POWER METROLOGY

AND THE SMART GRID 

Summary

Our country's way of life

depends on the electric power

distribution system. Keeping

the national electric grid in

good working order – and

ensuring power is measured

accurately and billed fairly –

requires a set of standards for

electric power measurements.

NIST is deeply involved in

developing and maintaining

these standards. Our efforts

include devising metrology

that allows new technologies

to connect into existing

power production and

delivery systems, as well as

standards that protect the

infrastructure from potential

dangers introduced by

deregulation. This project's

work also supports the

realization of the Smart Grid,

the future model of the U.S.

electric power grid that

incorporates cutting-edge

technologies to achieve

unprecedented efficiency,

reliability, and safety.

Power outages are at a minimum

an inconvenience, but extended

periods without power can be lifethreatening; e.g., to patients in

hospitals and during extreme

weather. Deregulation of the U.S.

electric power industry has

complicated the task of ensuring

the dependability of the nation's

complex power infrastructure.

NIST performs invaluable research

that supports reliable power

delivery, public safety, and

accurate pricing of electric power.

Ironically, modern technological

advances are making this task even

more difficult. For example,

sensors and actuators used to

control the operation of electric

power systems are now widely

connected via modems and the

Web, but because they are

designed for speed and other

functional considerations rather

than security, they may be

vulnerable to attack. In

conjunction with utilities and

vendors, NIST researchers are

identifying these weaknesses and

reviewing the standards affected

by them. 

Deregulation has also opened the

door to suppliers using nontraditional electricity generation

technologies (such as wind and

solar) that may introduce

distortions into the flow of power

delivered to customers. EEEL is

developing systems to characterize

the distortions and verify that

meters can still operate accurately

even when these distortions are

present.

Modern society's embrace of more

efficient electrical devices is also

driving new standards research. To

encourage reductions in electric

power consumption, the U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE)

designates minimum efficiencies

for electrical equipment, such as

power transformers and electric

motors. NIST advises DOE by

developing technically sound

sampling strategies and

instrumentation for testing these

devices.

To remain competitive in the global

power market, U.S. industry needs

standards that are internationally

acceptable. International comparisons

are essential for the validation of

measurement techniques used at

National Metrology Institutes across

the globe and also for transnational

sales of electric power.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed hardware and software to test more secure electric power

control system communication techniques and to make sure that these

techniques meet the relevant standards.

• Orchestrated, led, and analyzed a comparison of electric power

measurements among countries that participate in the Interamerican

Metrology System (SIM; North, South, and Central America).

• Performed essential electric power metrology for the Smart Grid, a model

for the modernization of electric power production and distribution. The

Smart Grid will be more reliable, efficient, and safer than today's grid.

Selected Publications

• B. C. Waltrip, B. Gong, T. L. Nelson, C. J. Burroughs, A. Rüfenacht, S. P. Benz, P.

D. Dresselhaus, Y. Wang, “Ac power Standard Using a Programmable Josephson

Voltage Standard,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement

(2009, accepted)

Contact

Thomas Nelson

(301) 975-2986

thomas.nelson@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 69

Figure 1. Calibrating a Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU).
Description

70 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

QUANTUM SENSORS 

Summary

The ability to accurately

measure the energy of

photons from the infrared to

gamma rays enables amazing

scientific applications, from

probing the origins of the

universe to detecting terrorist

activities. The Quantum

Sensors Project develops

sensors based on quantum

phenomena for spectroscopy,

imaging, and other precision

measurements. EEEL

integrates these sensors with

custom superconducting and

room-temperature

electronics, cryogenic

structures, and software to

create complete measurement

systems. Working with

collaborators in industry,

academia, and other

government agencies, EEEL

applies this measurement

capability to applications

including materials analysis,

particle physics, nuclear

nonproliferation and

forensics, astronomy,

cosmology, and homeland

defense.

The Quantum Sensors Project is a

world leader in developing new

detector systems. Project

researchers have developed tran -

sition edge sensors (TES) for use in

a variety of applications. These

devices utilize a strip of super -

conducting material, biased in its

transition from normal to super -

conducting states, as an extremely

sensitive thermometer. This ther -

mo meter is attached to an absorber

that is isolated from a cold ( 100

mK) heat sink by a micromachined

structure. The heat deposited by

incident photons is then measured

to accurately deter mine their

energy. These TES detec tors and

superconducting quan tum inter -

ference device (SQUID) readout

circuits are desig ned, fabricated,

and implemented for use by a

variety of different scientific and

technical com munities.

One example is the development of

gamma-ray and alpha-particle

detectors based on TES technology

that have more than 10 times

better energy resolution than

conventional detectors. These

detectors can resolve more lines in

the complicated gamma-ray spectra

of nuclear materials such as

uranium and plutonium isotopic

mixtures. The gamma-ray devices

are being developed specifically to

help in the verification of inter -

national nonproliferation treaties,

by determining the plutonium

content of spent nuclear fuel. The

alpha-particle devices have simi -

larly impressive performance and

have demonstrated the ability to

analyze mixed-actinide samples.

These detectors are being deve -

loped for use in nuclear forensics.

Prototypes of both systems have

been delivered to our collaborators

at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In the infrared regime, our TES

bolometers have achieved worldrecord sensitivity. This impressive

result confirms the utility of TES

technology for this application as

well. We are actively collaborating

with many groups and are

providing either detectors or

superconducting readout and

multiplexing circuits to many

infrared and sub-millimeter

instruments. Most recently, our

detector efforts are focused on

developing new polarizationsensitive bolometers for cosmic

microwave background measure -

ments.
Major Accomplishments 

• Delivered gamma-ray and alpha-particle spectrometer systems to Los Alamos

National Laboratory for development of nuclear forensic methods.

• Achieved world-record alpha-particle spectral resolution using TES detectors.

• Delivered detector and multiplexer components to several astronomical

instruments including the Atacama Cosmological Telescope, SCUBA-2, SPIDER,

and the South Pole Telescope.

• Designed, fabricated, and tested polarization-sensitive pixels suitable for cosmic

microwave background measurements.

• Demonstrated (with Konrad Lehnert, Physics Laboratory) parametric amplifiers

with sub-quantum noise-squeezed behavior.

Selected Publications

• R. D. Horansky, J. N. Ullom, J. A. Beall, G. C. Hilton, K. D. Irwin, D. E. Dry, E. P.

Hastings, S. P. Lamont, C. R. Rudy, M. W. Rabin, “Superconducting Calorimetric

Alpha Particle Sensors for Nuclear Nonproliferation Applications,” Appl. Phys. Lett.

93, 123504, DOI:10.1063/1.2978204 (2008)

• J. A. B. Mates, G. C. Hilton, K. D. Irwin, L. R. Vale, K. W. Lehnert, “Demonstration of

a Multiplexer of Dissipationless Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices,”

Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 023514, DOI:10.1063/1.2803852 (2008)

• N. A. Miller, G. C. O'Neil, J. A. Beall, G. C. Hilton, K. D. Irwin, D. R. Schmidt, L. R. Vale,

J. N. Ullom, “High resolution X-ray Transition-Edge Sensor Cooled By Tunnel

Junction Refrigerators,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 163501, DOI:10.1063/1.2913160 (2008)

Contact

Kent Irwin

(303) 497-4991

kent.irwin@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 71

Figure 1. SQUID-based multiplexer for

SCUBA-2: This 1280 pixel (32 column x 40

row) multiplexer is used as the readout

circuit for a submillimeter-wavelength

astronomical camera for the SCUBA2

instrument currently operating on Mauna

Kea in Hawaii.

Figure 4. Focal plane of 256 pixel gamma

spectroscopy system. In this picture, three of the

four detector bays are populated with gamma-ray

detector chips. The chip on the far right is a fully

functional 64 pixel detector, while the other

populated bays contain test chips.

Figure 2. One pixel of a SQUID multiplexer

readout circuit currently being used by a

variety of astronomical instruments

including the Atacama Cosmological

Telescope in Chile.

Figure 3. Focal plane for BICEP-2, a 256-pixel

polarimeter array being developed at

JPL/Caltech with NIST SQUID multiplexers for

deployment at the South Pole. Photos

courtesy A. Turner (JPL) and J. Brevik

(Caltech).
Description

72 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

QUANTUM INFORMATION

AND MEASUREMENTS

Summary

America’s future

prosperity and security

may rely in part on the

exotic properties of

quantum mechanics.

Research on quantum

information (QI) seeks to

control and exploit these

properties, and researchers

are already generating

“unbreakable” codes for

ultra-secure encryption.

They may someday build

quantum computers that

can solve problems in

seconds that today’s best

supercomputers could not

solve in years. This project

applies the properties of a

macroscopic quantum

system, superconductivity,

to the development of

quantum bits (qubits),

quantum circuits, and

electrical measurement

techniques that are limited

only by the laws of

quantum physics.

NIST is home to a broad interdisciplinary

program in quantum information

science, which is exploring multiple

implementations of qubits. The efforts

include ion-trap quantum computing led

by national Medal of Science Winner

Dave Wineland, neutral atom quantum

computing led by Nobel laureate Bill

Philips, and quantum computing

incorporating superconducting qubits

led by Ray Simmonds of this project.

Each of these approaches has associated

advantages and challenges. Qubits made

from ions and atoms are relatively easy

to isolate from environmental influences

and thus can maintain their coherence or

stable quantum state for longer times.

They are, however, more difficult to

manipulate, and their properties are

dictated by nature. Superconductivity

can be used to create “artificial atoms”

which are easy to connect to each other

and manipulate but are more susceptible

to decoherence by interaction with their

environment. Work in this project falls

into several areas: improving the

performance of superconducting qubits

by understanding the sources of

decoherence and mitigating them,

creating and demonstrating the

elements of a quantum computer such

as quantum memory and a quantum

bus, investigating the interaction

(“entanglement”) of multiple quantum

entities, probing at a fundamental level

the limits which quantum phenomena

place on electrical measurements, and

creating instrumentation to approach

these limits.

In concrete terms, this work includes

theoretical investigations of

interactions in qubits and single-charge

devices as well as design, fabrication,

and characterization of a wide variety

of superconducting microdevices. In

the qubit arena, we have significantly

improved performance by modifying

the device structure to reduce or

remove dielectric materials (which

contain naturally occurring or “rogue”

qubits originating in atomic-level

defects) from the circuits where

possible and to substitute more defectfree materials where they cannot be

removed. (Complementary work on

quantum materials for qubits is being

performed in the Quantum Magnetic

Sensors and Materials Project.) In the

instrumentation area, we have

designed and demonstrated ultra-lownoise superconducting microwave

amplifiers which have the promise to

improve microwave measurements in a

broad array of applications and

potentially push these measurements to

the quantum limit.
Major Accomplishments 

• Demonstrated coherent quantum state storage and transfer between two

phase qubits. Featured on the cover of Nature.

• Demonstrated DC SQUID microwave amplifier operating in the 7 GHz band

with world record gain.

• Developed vacuum gap capacitors and crossovers and integrated them into

superconducting qubits.

• Developed a resonator technique for evaluating qubit materials which allows

rapid screen of candidate materials and fabrication methods.

• Performed seminal work on the role of quasiparticle poisoning in

superconducting circuits which has had a major effect in redirection of qubit

development.

Selected Publications

• M. A. Sillanpaa, J. I. Park, R. W. Simmonds, “Coherent Quantum State Storage and

Transfer Between Two Phase Qubits Via a Resonant Cavity,” Nature, Vol. 449, No.

7161, pp. 438-442 (2007)

• L. Spietz, K. Irwin, J. Aumentado, “Input Impedance and Gain of a Gigahertz

Amplifier Using a DC Superconducting Quantum Interference Device in a Quarter

Wave Resonator, “ Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 93, No. 8, pp. 082506-1-3 (2008)

• O. Naaman and J. Aumentado, “Poisson Transition Rates from Time-Domain

Measurements with a Finite Bandwidth,” J., Physical Review Letters, Vol. 96, No. 10,

pp. 100201/1-4 (2006)

Contact

Bob Schwall

(303) 497-4732

robert.schwall@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 73

Figure 1. Depiction of a single microwave

photon being transmitted between two

superconducting qubit circuits, creating for the

first time a “quantum electrical bus” between

qubits that preserves and transfers the

quantum state from one qubit to the other. Figure 2. Micrograph of a superconducting qubit circuit that incorporates a

unique vacuum gap capacitor to reduce

dielectric decoherence in the circuit.
Description

74 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

QUANTUM MAGNETIC

SENSORS AND MATERIALS 

Summary

Ultra-sensitive magnetic

sensors, quantum computers,

and next-generation

semiconductors all require the

fabrication of extremely pure

well-characterized materials.

Quantum coherent materials

show great promise for

magnetic sensors as well as

information processing

technology. For magnetic

sensors, spin-based transport in

metals and across tunnel

barriers is important because it

increases the signal to noise and

reduces the power. These

devices have applications in a

wide variety of fields, ranging

from sensing to imaging. EEEL

has developed large element

arrays and systems to make

forensic copies of magnetic

tapes for data migration and

authenticity analysis. In the area

of quantum computing, EEEL is

developing crystalline tunnel

junctions that will improve

quantum state visibility and

measurements. EEEL is also

working to improve the

coherence of these devices by

developing low-loss dielectrics. 

NIST is a world leader in the

area of high-sensitivity

magnetic field sensors. To

achieve this, EEEL has explored

spintronic devices, including

anisotropic magneto-resistive

(AMR) and tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) devices. With

the AMR devices, researchers

developed tape read heads with

many sensing elements. These

devices are designed to operate

at DC and are used to image

magnetic tapes. A system was

built for the FBI that is being

validated for use on analog

audio tape evidence. The TMR

devices are targeted towards

low-noise field sensors and are

integrated with a flux

concentrator. EEEL researchers

have achieved noise levels

better than one millionth of the

Earth’s magnetic field, with a

sufficient dynamic range to run

them in an unshielded

environment. These devices are

very low power and are

targeted toward geological and

exploratory work.

For quantum computing, EEEL is

developing superconducting

devices using a novel approach to

making a tunnel barrier.

Traditionally these tunnel

junctions use convenient

amorphous, thermal oxide

barriers because the thickness is

easily controllable, and they tend

to be pin-hole free. However, it

has been shown that these layers

have energy-absorbing defects

at random frequencies due to

their amorphous nature.

Therefore, EEEL developed a

process to grow epitaxial tunnel

junctions. This was challenging

because the tunnel current

depended exponentially on the

barrier thickness, and epitaxial

barriers require high

temperatures to crystallize.

Working around these issues

using precision, ultra-high

vacuum molecular beam epitaxy

(MBE) growth, and lattice

matched, superconducting

rhenium films on sapphire

substrates, EEEL is the first to be

able to fabricate, characterize,

and successfully integrate them

into devices. In addition, the

performance of the devices

improved significantly, enabling

us to use optical lithography

rather than e-beam.
Major Accomplishments 

• Developed low-noise magnetic field sensors applicable for geological

applications.

• Developed magnetic imaging arrays and a system for conducting forensic

analysis of magnetic tapes using this technology.

• Demonstrated the first implementation of epitaxial Josephson junction for

quantum computing applications.

• Demonstrated that epitaxial Josephson junctions reduce the number of

detrimental splittings in a solid state qubit.

Selected Publications

• F. C. S. da Silva, S. T. Halloran, A. B. Kos, D. P. Pappas, “256-Channel Magnetic

Imaging System,” Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 013709 (2008)

• S. Oh, K. Cicak, J. S. Kline, M. A. Sillanpää, K. D. Osborn, J. D. Whittaker, R. W.

Simmonds, D. P. Pappas, “Elimination of Two Level Fluctuators in

Superconducting Quantum Bits by an Epitax ial Tunnel Barrier,” Phys Rev. B74

Rapid Communications, 100502® (2006)

• F. C. da Silva, S. T. Halloran, L. Yuan, D. P. Pappas, “A Z-Component Magnetoresistive

Sensor,” Applied Physics Letters 92, 142502 (2008)

Contact

David Pappas

(303) 497-3374

avid.pappas@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 75

Figure 1. One second of audio in a cassette tape imaged using the 256-sensor array

showing: (I) regular audio signature, (II) erased region, and (III) erase head stop

event. The white arrow between regions I and II indicates the erase mark starting

point. The dotted rectangle highlights the erase stop event showed in detail in (b) and

compared with the Bitter imaging technique (c). The black arrows indicate the

recorder signature marks.

Figure 2. Qubit spectroscopy showing the

probability of the qubit being in the <1>| state

after a long microwave pulse is applied at each

bias current; the brighter the color, the higher the

probability. When the microwave energy is equal

to the energy spacing between the lowest two

levels of the qubit, this probability reaches a

maximum. (a) An amorphous barrier qubit and

(b) an epitaxial barrier qubit. Both qubits have

identical junction areas. The only difference is the

trilayer structure.
76 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 77

The Electromagnetics Division develops and promotes electromagnetic measurements,

standards, and technology to support a broad range of technical needs. The Division’s

programs focus on accurate and reliable measurements throughout the radio

spectrum. Key program directions include: (1) development of advanced

measurement technologies required by both research-and-development and

manufacturing communities; (2) the development and characterization of standard

reference artifacts, measurement methods, and services that provide the basis for

international recognition of measurements; and (3) the provision of expert technical

support for national and international standards activities. Examples to indicate the

breadth of areas influenced by our programs include high-speed microelectronics for

computation and telecommunications, advanced antenna systems for applications in

military radars and deep space communications, remote observation of the Earth’s

biosphere, acquisition and quantitative characterization of high-speed waveforms,

medical diagnostic imaging, and reliable communications for our nation’s emergency

first-responders.

The Division’s technical activities are organized into three research groups. The RadioFrequency Electronics Group provides a broad range of state-of-the-art calibration

services for fundamental radio-frequency and microwave quantities, which ensures

that the U.S. scientific and industrial base has access to a measurement system that is

reliable, accurate, and internationally accepted. In addition, this group extends new

measurement tools and theories to higher operating frequencies, wider signal

bandwidth, and smaller length scales. These are required for next-generation

applications in microelectronics, high-speed communications, computing, and data

storage. This group also develops new methods to measure the electromagnetic

properties of materials and understand the interactions of electromagnetic waves with

advanced materials.

The Radio-Frequency Fields Group develops theory and measurement techniques for

the characterization of fundamental properties of advanced antenna systems and for

the accurate measurement of electromagnetic fields. These capabilities are applied

to the measurement of emissions and susceptibilities of electronic systems and

devices. Of growing interest is the development of advanced measurement methods

to characterize complex modulated telecommunication signals and to study the

challenges faced by advanced communications when operated in complex real-world

environments.

The Magnetics Group performs advanced research on fundamental aspects of magnetism

and magnetodynamics, with particular focus on the behavior of nanoscale devices and

systems for applications to magnetic sensors, magnetic information storage, and

spintronics. This group also develops measurement technologies, methods and systems for

quantitative biomagnetic imaging and “smart” magnetic contrast agents. In addition, this

program maintains unique capabilities for the electromechanical characterization of

superconductors, which enables large-scale applications of superconducting technologies.

ELECTROMAGNETICS

DIVISION
Description

78 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

ADVANCED HIGH-FREQUENCY

DEVICES

Summary

Ceaseless demand for increases in speed

and integration of electronic devices

drives a large segment of U.S. economic

activity and impacts virtually every

aspect of modern life, from improved

medical diagnostics to faster compu ters

to higher bandwidth com munications.

The operating frequen cies of electronics

are rapidly moving into the microwave

frequency range and beyond, while

integration require ments force device

sizes down to the nanometer scale. This

trend requires ever faster, more

sensitive, and less inva sive characteri -

zation techniques and creates entirely

new measurement challenges related to

strong interac tions among devices and

with the local environment. Further

progress in the incorporation of novel

nanotechno logies into electronics and

communica tions applications is contin -

gent on the deve lop ment of highfrequency metro logy at the nanoscale to

define the relevant technical barriers and

develop strategies to overcome them.

The Advan ced High-Frequency Devices

Prog ram develops measure ment

techniques and devices for characte -

rizing nanoscale structures relevant for

beyond CMOS electronics, highfrequency bioelectronic applications, and

localized electromagnetic-field imaging.

The primary goal of this program is

metrology that enables advanced

high-frequency device

(electronics) development. Based

on current trends in highfrequency electronics, the program

is focused on metrology for two

classes of devices: (1) highfrequency nanoscale devices

(bringing high-frequency to the

nanoscale) and (2) high-frequency

devices based on novel materials

(bringing high-frequency to new

materials).

By learning how to fabricate and

measure specific devices, this

program develops metrology that

is broadly applicable to whole

classes of devices. The

electronics research-andd e v e l o p m e n t c o m m u n i t y o f

industry, government, and

academia needs the metrological

tools that are being developed to

discern which high-frequency

device paradigms they should

pursue and which they should

abandon. The impact of these

developments on the electronics

industry will be immense. Several

industrial consortia have been

created just to pursue research

on advanced devices. On the one

hand they recognize that

quantitative measure ment will

make a major contribution to

these efforts. On the other hand,

these industrial entities are not

able to clearly articulate their

measurement needs. In addition

to clarifying and providing the

measurement methods, work in

this field will enable new

functionality that goes beyond

conventional electronics. The

initial investment in this area has

yielded several specific

achievements: broadband

characterization of nanotubes,

advances in near-field microwave

microscopy, and superconducting

microwave power limiters.

External agencies, including the

Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency (DARPA) and the

Office of Naval Research (ONR),

have recognized the value of this

program and have invested

accordingly. Over the course of

the next 5 to 10 years, we will

build on established

measurement techniques to apply

high frequency electromagnetic

metrology to nanoscale devices

for electronic and biological

systems.
Major Accomplishments 

• Designed, fabricated, measured, modeled, and performed error analysis for

two-port, high-frequency, GaN nanowire devices.

• Developed a full model for characterization of nanoscale two-port devices.

The model includes device characteristics as well as contact impedance.

• Performed broadband measurements of SrTiO3 thin films at room

temperature. These are the basis for a book chapter on challenges in thin-film

measurements.

• Developed integrated microelectronic-microfluidics measurement structures

for broadband electromagnetic characterization of picoliter fluid volumes.

Selected Publications

• T. Wallis, A. Imtiaz, H. Nembach, P. Rice, P. Kabos, “Metrology for High-Frequency

Nanoelectronics,” 2007 International Conference on Frontiers of Characterization

and Metrology for Nanoelectronics (formerly, Characterization and Metrology for

ULSI Technology), Gaithersburg, MD (2007)

• N. Orloff, J. Mateu, M. Murakami, I. Takeuchi, J. C. Booth, “Broadband

Characterization of Multilayer Dielectric Thin-Films,” 2007 IEEE MTT-S International

Microwave Symposium, Honolulu, HI (2007)

• J. C. Booth, N. Orloff, J. Mateu, “Nonlinear Effects in Thin-Film Ferroelectric

Transmission Lines at Microwave Frequencies,” Proc. International Symposium on

Applications of Ferroelectrics, Santa Fe, NM (2008)

Contacts

Jim Booth

Phone: (303) 497-7900

james.booth@nist.gov

Pavel Kabos, 

Phone: (303) 497-3997

pavel.kabos@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 79

Figure 1. On-wafer nonlinear characterizations.
Description

80 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

ADVANCED MATERIALS

METROLOGY

Summary

Everywhere around us are materials

that are composed of tiny molecules

and atoms that are influenced by

invisible electromagnetic rays that

travel as radio waves, microwaves,

and sunlight. Just how these waves

behave near and in materials has a

strong influence on many areas of

our life, from the TV we watch to

devices in the doctor’s office.

Understanding and harnessing the

interaction of microwaves with

materials and the electrical

properties of materials is very

important to the development of

new medical technologies and new

electronics. The primary objectives of

the Advanced Materials Metrology

Program are to develop, improve,

and analyze measurements of the

electromagnetic properties of

materials from the large-scale down

to the nanoscale. The emphasis for

the program is on measurement

methods for substrates, thin films,

liquids, biological materials, and

artificial materials. Our program will

advance the state of the art by

introducing advanced concepts

based on the underlying physics that

govern the nature and properties of

the materials.

Over 100 years ago it dawned on

scientists that a moving charge

produced electromagnetic waves

that traveled at the speed of light.

Later it was found that these

waves traveled as corpuscles

called photons that interacted

with materials. Electromagnetic

devices cannot operate without

the interaction of electromagnetic

waves with materials, and the

characterization of the interface

between fields and materials will

be a critical task for any device or

metrology development from

nanoscale to larger scales. EEEL

areas of impact over the next 5 to

10 years will be developing

measure ments at frequencies

approaching 1 terahertz, defining

theoretical concepts, and

developing the optimum

measurement tools to extend

electromagnetic metrology and

reference materials to the

nanoscale. We will develop quan -

titative electromagnetic measure -

ments of thin-film electronic

materials, liquids, biomaterials,

and other advanced materials over

a wide range of experimental

conditions including frequency,

temperature, and magnetic fields. 

EEEL is performing state-of-theart research that anticipates the

measurement needs of industry

years in advance in

nondestructive substrate

measurements, micro fluidics,

low- thin-film characterization,

and near-field probing techniques. Industry, universities,

other government laboratories,

and standards committees have

adopted many EEEL measurement

methods. These include systems

and test fixtures, best practices,

and documentary standards.

EEEL is expanding capabilities in

advanced areas of near-field

microwave microscopy, liquid

characterization, and micro -

fluidics.

The benefits of this work are

many. Quantifying the interaction of electromagnetic fields

with matter is a fundamental

measurement challenge. This

work directly benefits and

leads basic research and development in microelectronics,

biotechnology, and nanotechnology and influences a wide

range of commercial, military,

and homeland security applications.
Major Accomplishments 

• Constructed and evaluated a liquid test fixture for the Transportation

Security Administration (TSA).

• Completed a study of the interaction of radio-frequency to terahertz

electromagnetic fields with material sizess from the macroscopic to

nanoscale.

• Completed an electromagnetic analysis of near-field nanoscale probes.

• Completed an analysis of split-post and split-cylinder resonance

techniques.

• Performed on-wafer metrology to study printed wiring board measurement

problems.

Selected Publications 

• J. Baker-Jarvis, M. D. Janezic, J. H. Lehman, “Dielectric-Resonator Method for

Measuring the Electrical Conductivity of Carbon Nanotubes from Microwave to

Millimeter Frequencies,” Journal of Nanomaterials, vol. 2007, 12086 (2007)

• J. Baker-Jarvis, M. D. Janezic, D. Love, T. M. Wallis, C. L. Holloway, P. Kabos, “Phase

Velocity in Resonant Structures,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 42, pp. 3344-

3346 (2006)

• M. Janezic, J. Jargon, J. R. Baker-Jarvis, “Relative Permittivity Measurements Using

the Higher-Order Resonant Mode of a Near-Field Microwave Probe,” International

Union of Radio Science (URSI), Chicago, IL (2008)

Contact

James Baker-Jarvis

(303) 497-5621

james.baker-jarvis@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 81

Figure 1. Dielectric measurement of liquids.
Description

82 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

FUNDAMENTAL GUIDED-WAVE

METROLOGY

Summary

Information zips around inside modern

personal computers at microwave

frequencies. At these speeds, the

information can interact with the

materials of the computer chips and

buses and possibly change in

unexpected ways. These interactions

must be measured and understood to

keep computers functioning correctly,

especially as they get smaller and faster.

Helping computer chip manufacturers

make these measurements is just one

example of how the microwave

standards and measuring techniques

developed by the Fundamental GuidedWave Metrology (FGWM) Program of

EEEL supports industry. A common set

of basic measurement capabilities and

standards are necessary to support all

these different users of RF and

microwave devices. The FGWM Program

develops and maintains the U.S. national

standards for RF and microwave

quantities, providing a wide range of

state-of-the-art measurement

capabilities and develops new

measurement methods and systems.

Everyday consumer devices (such as

microwave ovens) as well as future

advanced electronics systems are

supported by the work of the FGWM

Program.

The number of devices that use

microwaves is constantly growing.

There is a constant push to use higher

frequencies. Signals are becoming

much more complex, including

modulation effects, multiport/

differential signals, complex

waveforms, and other unusual signal

schemes. The capability to measure

signals on integrated circuits is

becoming critical for advanced

devices. These new requirements are

dictated by the needs of the

telecommunication, computing,

defense, and general electronics

communities. EEEL’s work looks at

the fundamental measurement

problems for microwave thermal

noise, scattering-parameter, power,

and waveform measurements. A

large range of state-of-the-art

microwave measurement

capabilities, theoretical

developments, techniques, and

standards for customers are

provided. The FGWM Program covers

from 100 kilohertz to above 110

gigahertz.

The customers for the microwave

measurement services come from a

broad slice of the electronics

industry. These customers

generally use NIST measurements

to support their internal calibration

processes. This includes

establishing their traceability,

support for accredi tation,

calibration standards, and

verification of their systems. The

systems supported by these

measurements may be anything

from satellite systems to weapons

or other military systems,

computer chips, cell phones, or

microwave ovens. One recent

example is a calibration for the

Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) to support its microwave

oven standards. The microwave

measure ment services are being

transformed to better meet the

needs of the program’s customers.

The FGWM Program is developing a

strategy for moving the

measurement services into the

future and is developing improved

methods for delivering the

services. The main cornerstone of

this approach is a strong researchand-development program in these

areas. The measurement services

are a natural outcome of the

program’s focus on the research of

the fundamental metrology that

underlies the measurement

capabilities. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Completed and evaluated a new WR-15 calorimeter for power measurements.

• Completed a 1.85 millimeter direct comparison power system and uncertainty

analysis. 

• Extended s-parameter capabilities to 1.85 millimeter connectors with

uncertainty analysis.

• Constructed and tested a 400 gigahertz electro-optic sampling system.

• Terminated the classic artifact-based s-parameter measurement services.

(These are being replaced with a measurement comparison approach.)

Selected Publications

• A. Lewandowski, D. Williams, “Characterization and Modeling of Random Vector

Network Analyzer Measurement Errors,” 17th International Conference on

Microwaves, Radar and Wireless Communications (MIKON) (Warsaw, Poland), pp.

1-4 (2008)

• J. P. Randa, D. K. Walker, “On-Wafer Measurement of Transistor Noise Parameters

at NIST,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 56, pp. 551-

554 (2007)

• D. Gu, D. Walker, J. P. Randa, “Noise-Parameter Measurement with Automated

Variable Terminations,” Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements

(CPEM), Broomfield, CO (2008)

Contact

Ronald Ginley

(303) 497-5737

ronald.ginley@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 83

Figure 1. Probe station for making automated on-wafer device measurements.
Description

84 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

ANTENNA METROLOGY

Summary

Antennas are the eyes, ears,

and voices of everything

from cell phones to

interplanetary spacecraft.

The Antenna Metrology

Program carries on EEEL's

pioneering work on testing

high-end antennas for

critical hardware such as

communications satellites,

scientific spacecraft, radar,

and aircraft. The program

focuses on improving its

near-field scanning method,

which transforms

measurements taken at

centimeter distances into

accurate predictions of an

antenna’s far-field, valid at

distances of kilometers and

beyond. Using mathematical

tools developed at EEEL, the

technique is used at

hundreds of test ranges

worldwide. Recent advances

promise to extend the

method’s use.

EEEL’s Antenna Metrology Program has

for three decades served companies

and government agencies seeking to

maximize the efficiency of

communications, relying on the world’s

highest performance antennas.

Program physicists and engi neers are

leaders in testing key antenna

performance characteristics used in

some of the world’s most sensitive

applications, such as those of radar and

aircraft and of satellites and spacecraft

vital for communications, weather

prediction, and space science. Precise

understanding of antenna perfor -

mance enables designers of television

satellites and spacecraft bound for

other planets to avoid overbuilding

antennas and related power sources,

such as batteries and solar panels. They

can thereby minimize spacecraft

weight — and costs — where an

incremental pound can cost $10,000 to

launch. Equally important, proper

testing of antennas on scientific

spacecraft costing hundreds of millions

of dollars provides assurance that

precious data will make it back to Earth.

EEEL scientists pioneered the near-field

scanning technique — now the standard

method for testing high-performance

antennas designed to communicate

across tens, thousands, or even millions

of kilometers — and continue to

advance it both theoretically and

experimentally. The private sector and

other government agencies provide

most testing services based on EEEL’s

ground-breaking work. In hundreds of

test ranges worldwide, engineers test

antennas using probes designed to

capture an antenna’s output. In the

U.S., each antenna probe is NISTtraceable, or NIST-calibrated. Such

testing measures an antenna’s nearfield at close distances (a few

centimeters), then uses mathematical

algorithms developed at NIST to

determine the far-field. Near-field

scanning allows for accurate

assessment of the gain (the amount of

power transmitted or received in the

antenna’s primary direction),

polarization (the orientation of the

electromagnetic field), and pattern

(the angular distribution of transmitted

or received energy) of antennas

operating at frequencies from 1.5

gigahertz to 110 gigahertz. 

Project scientists recently scored a

major success in the race to stay ahead

of increasing antenna frequencies with

their development of a dynamic laserbased antenna-probe tracking system

with probe-position correction

algorithms, which enable the use of
Major Accomplishments 

• Completed and documented a method for estimating uncertainty due to the

source of known brightness temperature being in the near-field of the

radiometer.

• Determined gains and compared results of three antennas (one dual-port

probe) using both the extrapolation and pattern integration methods.

• Established a test bed at 13.56 megahertz for testing radio-frequency

identification (RFID) cards for load modulation (return signal strength) and

durability when cards are exposed to electrostatic discharge or to high

strength alternating electric and magnetic fields.

Selected Publications

• M. Francis, R. Wittmann, “Near-Field Scanning Measurements: Theory and Practice,”

in Modern Antenna Handbook, John Wiley, Ch. 19, pp. 929-976 (2008)

• R. Wittmann, M. Francis, R. Direen, “Chamber Imaging Using Near-Field Scanning,”

in Proc. 2008 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium (San Diego, CA), ID

10.1109/APS.2008.4619141 (2008)

• J. Guerrieri, K. MacReynolds, M. Francis, R. Wittmann, D. Tamura, “Planar Near-Field

Measurement Results Up To 94 GHz Using Probe Position Correction,” in Proc. 27th

AMTA Symposium (Newport, RI), pp. 110-116 (2005)

Contact

Michael Francis

(303) 497-5873

michael.francis@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 85

existing near-field scanning ranges at

much higher frequencies than

previously attainable — thereby

extending the life of some of the

nation’s key antenna-testing infra -

structure. Such higher frequencies hold

significant promise in the areas of

medical and security imaging and

radiometer systems for improved

weather and climate prediction. Project

scientists are also working on imaging

applications that could one day

pinpoint undesired electromagnetic

reflections in test chambers, enabling

even more accurate antenna

calibration.

Figure 1. 

The EEEL millimeter-wave extrapolation range

being prepared for antenna measurements.
Description

86 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

FIELD PARAMETER

METROLOGY 

Summary

Consider the consequences if

nearby electronics could

interfere with a jet’s

instruments or cause an

automobile to stall. 

The Electromagnetic Field

Parameter Program develops

ways of measuring

electromagnetic (EM)

emissions and susceptibilities

to electronic interference 

of electronic devices 

and systems. 

The program maintains the

capability to provide EM field

measurements. 

Applications include the

communications needs of

first-responders to

emergencies, measurements

of the shielding effectiveness

of advanced materials, 

effects from and on other

electronic components,

the statistics of

electromagnetic fields in

rooms and buildings, 

and the effects on biological

subjects.

This program generates reference EM

fields and calibrates EM probes

required for their accurate

measurement. Accurate EM field

measurements are needed to charac -

terize our wireless world and ensure

that the valuable electromagnetic

spectrum is optimally used, that

electronic systems are compatible and

neither sources nor victims of EM

interference, and that people are not

exposed to hazardous fields. As instru -

mentation and electronics achieve

higher clock rates, EM field parameter

metrology is needed at ever higher

frequencies. The program is working to

extend current methods and facilities to

higher frequencies and develop new

test methods to increase accuracy and

reduce measurement costs.

The program is working on extending

open area test site test methods to

frequencies above the 1 gigahertz

specified by most international

electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)

standards. Fully anechoic chambers are

accepted as standard sites for

approximate free-space measure -

ments. Time domain methods are being

studied as a way to measure the

characteristics of these rooms and to

improve the results obtained therein.

This type of chamber is also being

evaluated for EMC product testing up

to 40 gigahertz. Closed test systems

such as transverse EM cells have been

widely adopted for testing small

antennas, sensors, and probes, but are

normally limited by geometrical

constraints to below 1 gigahertz. EEEL

recently finished construction and

testing of a new closed-cell co-conical

geometry system that can be used to

test such devices up to 45 gigahertz.

This new test fixture reduces test times

from weeks to hours. 

The program provides information to

stan dards organizations to help

correlate measurements between

various EMC test facilities. The program

also coope rates with the national test

laboratories of our international

partners to perform round-robin

testing and comparison of standard

antennas and probes. This assures

international agreement in their

performance and reduces the uncer -

tain ties in the areas of metrology that

affect international trade. The

program’s goal is to develop and

evaluate reliable and cost-effective

standards, test methods, and measure -

ment services related to complex EM

fields for EMC of electronic devices and

other applications in health, defense,

and homeland security.
Major Accomplishments 

• Completed a co-conical field generation system (CFGS) for the Air Force. The

CFGS will reduce hazard probe calibration times from weeks to hours. 

• Completed and documented high-intensity radiated field (HIRF) shielding

effectiveness tests on representative commercial aircraft (Boeing 737-200,

Boeing 767-400ER, Bombardier Global 5000, Beechcraft Premier 1A Composite

Business Jet); the results were delivered to the FAA.

• Described analytically and verified experimentally a new method to quantify the

shielding effectiveness of physically small but electrically large enclosures (e.g.,

instrument and computer housings) in reverberation chambers; introduced the

method into the applicable IEEE standard.

Selected Publications

• K. Remley, G. Koepke, C. Holloway, C. Grosvenor, D. Camell, J. Ladbury, D. Novotny,

W. Young, G. Hough, M. McKinley, Y. Becquet, J. Korsnes, “Measurements to Support

Broadband Modulated-Signal Radio Transmissions for the Public-Safety Sector,” NIST

Technical Note 1546 (2008)

• C. Grosvenor, D. Camell, G. Koepke, D. Novotny, R. Johnk, “Electromagnetic

Airframe Penetration Measurements of a Beechcraft Premier 1A,” NIST Technical

Note 1548 (2008)

• D. Camell, R. Johnk, D. Novotny, C. Grosvenor, “Free-Space Antenna Factors Through

the Use of Time-Domain Signal Processing,” in Proc. 2007 IEEE International

Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility (Honolulu, HI), pp. 1-5 (2007)

Contact

Galen Koepke

(303) 497-5766

galen.koepke@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 87

Figure 1. The co-conical field generation system developed by EEEL in preparation

for testing.
Description

88 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

WIRELESS SYSTEMS

METROLOGY 

Summary

Imagine how much safer a fire

fighter’s job would be if it

were possible for a robot to

navigate in a burning building

and locate those in need of

assistance. 

The Wireless Systems

Metrology Program develops

ways to measure complex

telecommunication signals

used by industry, public

safety (rescue workers),

and government. 

The program develops

methods to measure

communication and data

signals and to imitate complex

environments where reliable

reception may be a problem.

Applications include

developing tests to evaluate

the effects of interference on

wireless communications used

in factories for the control of

robots, methods to measure

cellular telephone fields, 

test facilities for evaluating

search and rescue

communications, and 

robot communications.

The Wireless Systems Metrology

Program supports the growing

wireless industry by developing

methods to test the operation and

functionality of wireless devices in

the presence of various types of

distortion. This includes multipath

distortion, ranging from a line-ofsight environment (low-multipath)

to a pure Rayleigh environment

(high-multipath). 

The Wireless Systems Metrology

Program is also concerned with the

impact of nonlinear distortion on

the transmission of wireless signals,

which can be especially severe for

new wideband modulated signal

transmissions. Accurately

measuring distortion behavior of

nonlinear radio-frequency devices

is a key element in understanding

how the device will perform once it

is incorporated into a system. Even

under weakly nonlinear conditions,

low-noise devices such as those

used in receiver front ends will

exhibit nonlinear behavior that

includes harmonic generation and

intermodulation distortion. The

program has studied problems that

commonly arise in performing and

interpreting nonlinear measure -

ments, such as power- and wavebased representations and the

effects of terminating impedance

on intermodulation distortion.

Researchers are also working to

develop traceability to fundamental

parameters such as power and

electric field.
Major Accomplishments 

• Demonstrated that a reverberation chamber can be used to generate a

variable multipath environment, which allows wireless devices to be tested in

the laboratory rather than in field tests.

• Developed standards to ensure reliable wireless communications for

emergency responders in difficult radio environments.

• Assisted the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which is

conducting a long-term animal study to evaluate health risks associated with

cellular telephone fields, by testing the performance of 21 reverberation

chambers that will be utilized in the study. 

Selected Publications 

• E. Genender, C. Holloway, K. Remley, J. Ladbury, G. Koepke, H. Garbe, “Using a

Reverberation Chamber to Simulate the Power Delay Profile of a Wireless

Environment,” in Proc. 2008 EMC Europe Symposium (Hamburg, Germany), pp. 219-

224 (2008)

• K. Remley, G. Koepke, C. Grosvenor, R. Johnk, J. Ladbury, D. Camell, J. Coder, “NIST

Tests of the Wireless Environment in Automobile Manufacturing Facilities,” NIST

Technical Note 1550 (2008)

• K. Remley, G. Hough, G. Koepke, R. Johnk, D. Camell, C. Grosvenor, “Wireless

Communications in Tunnels for Urban Search and Rescue Robots,” in Proc. 2008

Performance Metrics for Intelligent Systems, Gaithersburg, MD (2008)

Contact

Catherine Remley

(303) 497-3652

catherine.remley@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 89

Figure 1. EEEL staff measure the wireless communication link environment in an

automotive factory.
Description

90 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

NANOMAGNETICS 

Summary

Hard-disk drives in personal

computers continue to

become smaller, faster, and

cheaper. These magnetic

devices push the limits of

technology, with current data

bit densities of 50 billion per

square centimeter. 

The magnetic orientation of

thin films in write heads, read

heads, and recording media all

switch extremely quickly. 

The Nanomagnetics Program

investigates the highfrequency behavior of

nanoscale magnetic materials

and devices. The switching of

magnetization at frequencies

in the hundreds of megahertz

to hundreds of gigahertz will

be the foundation for future

magnetic data storage

systems and microwave

integrated circuits. 

These technologies will

depend on newly discovered

properties and limitations of

magnetic materials and

devices that appear only at

the nanoscale.

Future computer hard disk drives are

likely to require patterned media

composed of uniform,

perpendicularly magnetized nanodots

instead of present-day continuous

magnetic films. EEEL has

demonstrated that the magnetic

fields required to switch the

magnetization of nanodots is critically

dependent on the quality of their

edges. EEEL is developing new, highly

sensitive, magneto-optic instruments

to measure the dynamics of magnetic

nanodots as a function of frequency,

with the goal of evaluating nanodot

quality and homogeneity via a rapid

spectroscopic analysis of individual

nanodots. 

Spintronics exploits the interaction

between electrons’ spin angular

momentum and the magnetization

of a film. EEEL developed the first

microwave spin-transfer nanooscillators based on point current

contacts to planar films. These

oscillators have very sharp

resonant frequencies. EEEL showed

how signals emitted by multiple

nano-oscillators will naturally

synchronize, coherently combining

their outputs and stabilizing their

oscillation frequency. EEEL

explained the mechanism

responsible for nano-oscillator

coupling and solved a potential

barrier to widespread application

by demonstrating how oscillations

can be made to occur in a zero

applied magnetic field. 

In addition to oscillators, electron

spin torque may be used to switch

future nonvolatile magnetic

random-access memory (MRAM)

elements. Compared to switching

memory bits with magnetic fields,

this method would offer higher

speed, greater reliability, and

lower power, and it is scalable to

smaller device dimensions. EEEL is

developing methods to measure

the switching behavior of

prototype spin-MRAM. 

Imperfections in magnetoresistive

sensors give rise to random

magnetic fluctuations, which limit

their sensitivity. EEEL has obtained

evidence of these stochastic

processes in the form of electron

microscope images of magnetic

domain fluctuations in active

devices. EEEL has fabricated

improved magnetic tunnel-junction

sensors by annealing them in high

fields in a reducing environment

and by using magnetic flux

concentrators.
Major Accomplishments 

• Determined that magnetic reversal in perpendicularly magnetized

nanostructures is highly dependent on the nature and condition of the edges. 

• Determined that spin-transfer-driven oscillations in nanocontacts made to spinvalve structures can occur in zero field, which will enable applications such as onchip timing and signal processing.

• Demonstrated mutual phase-locking of microwave spin-torque nano-oscillators.

Spin waves, rather than magnetic fields, are the primary interaction mechanism.

• Identified sources of 1/f noise and time-dependent nanoscale fluctuations in

magnetic films. Imaged magnetic fluctuations in active magnetic sensors.

Selected Publications 

• T. J. Silva and W. H. Rippard, “Developments in Nano-Oscillators Based Upon SpinTransfer Point-Contact Devices,” Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, vol.

320, pp. 1260-1271 (2008)

• W. H. Rippard and M. R. Pufall, “Microwave Generation in Magnetic Multilayers and

Nanostructures,” in Handbook of Magnetism and Advanced Magnetic Materials,

John Wiley, Sussex, U.K. (2007)

• R. Heindl, S. E. Russek, T. J. Silva, W. H. Rippard, J. A. Katine, and M. J. Carey, “Size

Dependence of Intrinsic Spin Transfer Switching Current Density in Elliptical Spin

Valves,” Applied Physics Letters, vol. 92, 262504 (2008)

Contacts

Tom Silva

(303) 497-7826, thomas.silva@nist.gov

Bill Rippard

(303) 497-3882, william.rippard@nist.gov

Stephen Russek

(303) 497-5097, stephen.russek@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 91

Figure 1. Top drawing: Schematic of a model

used to include nanodot edge damage in

micromagnetic simulations. Bottom graph:

Diameter dependence of the switching field

from simulations for various values of edge

damage. The insets show the time evolution

in a 50 nanometer nanodot as it undergoes

reversal in the undamaged and edgedamaged cases over a time of approximately

1 nanosecond. The color scale represents the

z-component of the magnetization. 

Figure 4. Removal of a wafer of spin-MRAM

devices from ion-beam milling system. 

Figure 2. Simulation showing spin-wave

interaction between two spin-transfer oscillators.

Focused ion beam cut breaks coupling. Oscillators

phase-lock without the cut. The scanning

electron micrograph shows actual device. 

Figure 3. Simulation of magnetization for a

176 nanometer by 60 nanometer device. Colors

represent the average x-axis magnetization

(red positive, blue negative). Magnetic

oscillations grow until device switches. 
Description

92 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

BIOMAGNETICS 

Summary

Magnetic resonance imaging

(MRI) gives detailed medical

images of the body’s internal

tissues and organs without

the use of harmful radiation. 

MRI is based on magnetic

vibrations of the protons in

water. The Biomagnetics

Program seeks to improve MRI

through the invention of

multifunctional magnetic

contrast agents and the

development of

measurements and standards

to make MRI quantitative and

traceable, instead of

qualitative and instrument

dependent. 

The Biomagnetics Program

also develops terahertz

detectors with unprecedented

sensitivity and resolution for

bio-imaging, identification of

trace chemical molecules, and

remote atmospheric sensing

to monitor climate change. 

The imaging of malignant skin

tumors by the passive

detection of terahertz

radiation is safe 

and painless.

Customized microscopic magnets could

add color and sensitivity to MRI. In

collaboration with the National

Institutes of Health (NIH), EEEL has

shown how such micromagnets could

act as “smart tags” to identify particular

cells, tissues, or physiological

conditions. Each micromagnet consists

of two round, vertically stacked

magnetic disks, a few micrometers in

diameter, separated by a gap.

Customized magnetic fields can be

created by adjusting materials, gap, or

disk thickness or diameter. The open

design allows the diffusion of water

through the micromagnet, producing a

signal that may be thousands of times

stronger than that produced by a

similarly sized, but stationary, volume

of water. The diffusion effectively

increases local MRI sensitivity, which

could lead to faster imaging, images

that are richer in information, or

reduced dose requirements for contrast

agents. The micromagnets can be made

using conventional microfabrication

techniques and are compatible with

standard MRI hardware. 

In collaboration with a committee of the

International Society for Magnetic

Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), EEEL is

developing a standard “phantom” for

the calibration of MRI machines.

Currently, MRI scanners drift over time,

and different machines give different

images. Quantitative, traceable MRI will

provide accurate and consistent images,

validate disease mechanisms and

therapeutic outcomes, and facilitate the

transition to computer-aided diagnos -

tics. The pharmaceutical industry will use

quantitative MRI to objectively test the

efficacy of new drugs. 

Biological and chemical samples

naturally emit characteristic signatures

of terahertz radiation, but detecting

and measuring them is a challenge

because the signals are weak and

absorbed rapidly by the atmosphere. A

prototype imager developed by EEEL

uses a sensitive superconducting

detector, microelectronics, and optics

to operate in the terahertz range. The

system can detect temperature

differences smaller than 0.5 °C, which

could differentiate between, for

example, tumors and healthy tissue.

The technique is sensitive enough to

detect the weak terahertz signals

naturally emitted by samples,

eliminating the need to actively

illuminate them. The technology may

become a new tool for early tumor

detection and rapid and precise

identification of chemical hazards for

homeland security. 
Major Accomplishments 

• Invented MRI contrast agents with spectral signatures based on the geometry

of the magnetic microstructures.

• Developed and characterized a passive heterodyne hot electron bolometer

imager operating at 850 gigahertz with spatial resolution of 4 millimeters.

• Showed that the efficiency of solutions of the single-molecule Fe-8

nanomagnet as an MRI contrast agent compared to that of a gadolinium

chelate depends on concentration.

• Developed a novel platform for microfluidic manipulation of magnetic

particles based on an array of magnetic spin valves with bistable

ferromagnetic “on” and antiferromagnetic “off” states.

Selected Publications 

• G. Zabow, S. Dodd, J. Moreland, A. Koretsky, “Micro-Engineered Local Field Control

for High-Sensitivity Multispectral MRI,” Nature, vol. 453, pp. 1058-1063 (2008)

• E. Gerecht, D. Z. Gu, L. X. You, K. S. Yngvesson, "A Passive Heterodyne, Hot Electron

Bolometer Imager Operating at 850 GHz," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory

and Techniques, vol. 56, pp. 1083-1091 (2008)

• B. Cage, S. E. Russek, R. Shoemaker, A. J. Barker, C. Stoldt, V. Ramachandaran, N. S.

Dalal, “The Utility of the Single-Molecule Magnet Fe-8 as a Magnetic Resonance

Imaging Contrast Agent Over a Broad Range of Concentration,” Polyhedron, vol. 26,

pp. 2413-2419 (2007)

Contacts

John Moreland

(303) 497-3641

john.moreland@nist.gov

Stephen Russek

(303) 497-5097

stephen.russek@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 93

Figure 1. Scanning electron micrograph of

engineered magnets, 3 micrometers in

diameter, for enhanced MRI contrast.

Figure 2. Model of phantom under

development by EEEL and the ISMRM

Committee on Standards for Quantitative

MRI. It will include traceable dimensions

and magnetic contrast agents.

Figure 3.

Heterodyne terahertz imaging and

spectroscopy system

Image Copyright Geoffrey Wheeler, 2007
Description

94 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

SUPERCONDUCTIVITY 

Summary

Energy losses in the transmission

of electricity from generation

plants to cities amount to over five

percent. Underground electrical

distribution lines in cities are at

the limits of their current-carrying

capacities. These are examples of

problems that could be mitigated

with superconductors. 

The Superconductivity Program

conducts enabling research in

superconductivity for energy,

power grid reliability, medical

instruments, and fundamental

physics. The program has a

worldwide reputation for its

measurements of the effects of

mechanical strain and

temperature on the ability of

superconductor wires to carry

extremely high current.

Additionally, the program

develops standard measurement

techniques and international

documentary standards for

measurements to characterize

superconductors. It provides

quality assurance and reference

data for commercial and

prototype high-temperature and

low-temperature

superconductors. 

The global market for super -

conductors is about $5 billion, largely

dominated by superconducting

magnets for magnetic resonance

imaging (MRI) machines. However,

recent successful demonstra tion

projects point to increasing

applications in power transmission

lines, fault current limiters, transfor -

mers, synchronous condensers,

magnetic energy storage devices, and

other components for the electrical

power grid. Applications in proton

radiation cancer treatments are also

emerging. Measurements to charac -

terize superconductors require

specialized expertise, and the

measure ments must be reliable in

order to solve engineering problems

that prevent wider use of both

conventional and high-temperature

superconductors. 

To further its unique role as the de

facto reference laboratory for super -

conductor critical current measure -

ments, the program recently

developed the world’s first highcurrent unified apparatus to measure

critical current as a function of strain,

temperature, and magnetic field. It is

being used for fundamental research

at NIST, the U.S. contribution to the

International Thermonuclear Experi -

men tal Reactor (ITER), and in support

of the Department of Energy’s HighEnergy Physics particle accelerator

program. NIST’s data on the

irreversible strain limit and

alternating-field losses of Nb3Sn

superconductor wires have already

impelled ITER to change its wire

specifications and heat-treatment

schedule. The reason strain is such an

important parameter is that, in most

applications, superconductors are

subject to powerful Lorentz forces

due to the current they carry in the

magnetic field of neighboring wires.

These forces strain the wires, usually

to their detriment.

Recent research in this program has

shown that the reduction of critical

current with compressive strain in the

high-temperature Y-Ba-Cu-O super -

conduc tor, which is being developed

for electric transmission lines, is

intrinsic to the superconductor grains.

In fact, the reversible strain effect in

single-crystal thin films is comparable

to that of multi-granular Y-Ba-Cu-O

coated conductors. This could have

profound implications for the

development of practical hightemperature superconductors. The

Superconductivity Program has deve -

loped an apparatus to measure the
Major Accomplishments 

• Designed and constructed a unified temperature-strain apparatus.

• Demonstrated that the reversible strain effect in Y-Ba-Cu-O is intragranular

in origin.

• Developed a model to describe the reversible strain effect in Y-Ba-Cu-O grain

boundaries.

• Constructed new electromechanical test structures for second-generation, hightemperature superconductors, including a new apparatus to measure the strain

effect in variable magnetic-field angles.

• Showed how low irreversible strain limits could explain serious damage in ITER

prototype magnets.

• Formulated a scaling law for the flux pinning force in MgB2 superconductors.

• Updated 12 International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, including

measures of uncertainty.

Selected Publications 

• D. C. van der Laan, J. W. Ekin, “Large Intrinsic Effect of Axial Strain on the Critical

Current of High-Temperature Superconductors for Electric Power Applications,”

Applied Physics Letters, vol. 90, 052506 (2007)

• N. Cheggour, J. W. Ekin, L. F. Goodrich, “Critical-Current Measurements on an ITER

Nb3Sn Strand: Effect of Axial Tensile Strain,” IEEE Transactions on Applied

Superconductivity, vol. 17, pp. 1366-1369 (2007)

• L. F. Goodrich, N. Cheggour, J. W. Ekin, T. C. Stauffer, “Critical-Current

Measurements on ITER Nb3Sn Strands: Effect of Temperature,” IEEE Transactions on

Applied Superconductivity, vol. 17, pp. 1398-1401 (2007)

Contact

Loren Goodrich

(303) 497-3143

loren.goodrich@nist.gov

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory 95

critical current of Y-Ba-Cu-O coated

conductors as a function of strain,

temperature, magnetic field, and

magnetic field angle. Other research

in support of the commercial

development of high-temperature

superconductors has shown how to

prevent Y-Ba-Cu-O from delaminating

from their metal substrates when

under strain.

Figure 4. Critical-current

measurement of a singlecrystal thin film of Y-BaCu-O deposited on a

SrTiO3 crystal. Axial

compressive strain is

applied by bending the

beam. 

Figure 1. Unified apparatus for the measurement

of superconductor critical-current density as a

function of magnetic field, mechanical strain, and

temperature.

Figure 2. Two copper-alloy spring sample holders.

Superconductor wires are soldered to the outer

circumference of the springs. Torque applied to the

spring puts the wires into tension or compression. 

Figure 3. Upper part of new high-current

apparatus. The worm gear that is applied to torque

the spring can be seen through the window.