NEW NIST MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES FOR SUBMILLIMETER HOLES.
Dimensions of small holes play a critical role in a wide range of technologies, from fiber-optic connectors There are numerous types of plugs and sockets to connect optical fibers, using threaded, bayonet, push-pull and snap-lock connections. The first fiber-optic connector to be standardized was SMA, which was followed by the SC, ST and FC types. to fuel injectors a device for actively injecting fuel into an internal-combustion engines by directly forcing the liquid fuel into the combustion chamber at an appropriate point in the piston cycle; - an alternative to a carburetor . In the past, researchers have been unable to measure small features such as the inner diameter of a submillimeter hole, but NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Washington, DC, www.nist.gov) The standards-defining agency of the U.S. government, formerly the National Bureau of Standards. It is one of three agencies that fall under the Technology Administration (www.technology. has recently demonstrated the ability to measure holes as small as 700 [micro]m in diameter. Surprisingly, NIST's most accurate method for measuring these tiny features is to use a room-size coordinate measuring machine, which is more typically employed to measure objects with dimensions a little under 1 m. The measuring machine has been equipped with a miniature, 300 [micro]m diameter touch probe. In spite of in opposition to all efforts of; in defiance or contempt of; notwithstanding.
See also: Spite its large size, the machine is capable of positioning the probe tip with submicrometer precision and measuring small objects with uncertainties on the order of 100 nm.
COPYRIGHT 2000 National Institute of Standards and Technology
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2000, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
|
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion