U.S. economy reaps benefits of Josephson volt standard. (News Briefs).Sometimes its hard to quantify a scientific advance, but in the case of a standard developed to accurately measure the volt, impact can be assessed. In fact, a recent economic study commissioned by 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. finds that the standard enjoys a 5-to-1 benefit-to-cost ratio. In the late 1960s, the relationship between voltage and frequency was measured precisely with newly discovered superconductor A material that has little resistance to the flow of electricity. Traditional superconductors operate at absolute zero (-459.67 degrees Fahrenheit or -273.15 degrees Celsius). Experiments in the 1980s raised the temperature to -321 degrees Fahrenheit. devices called Josephson junctions An ultra-fast switching technology that uses superconductor materials, originally conceived by Brian Josephson. Circuits are immersed in liquid helium to obtain near-absolute zero degrees required for operation. Switching takes place in a few picoseconds. . Over the years, NIST developed two standards for the volt based on Josephson technology--the 1 V and 10 V. The 10 V technology was the version most in demand by industry and other government agencies for use in calibration facilities. After developing the technology, NIST transferred it to a private company which began marketing Josephson array systems in 1996. Today, there are at least 16 of these systems in operation in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . A basic standard, such as that enabling high-accuracy voltage measurement Voltage measurement Determination of the difference in electrostatic potential between two points. The unit of voltage in the International System of Units (SI) is the volt, defined as the potential difference between two points of a conducting wire carrying a , is at the apex of an industry supply chain and can, therefore, have economic impact on a number of industries. In this case, the Josephson volt standard infratechnology transferred to industry by NIST is used in the development and marketing of high-accuracy solid-state voltage sources A voltage source is any device or system that produces an electromotive force between its terminals OR derives a secondary voltage from a primary source of the electromotive force. and associated calibration services. These instruments and services are purchased by the measuring instrument industry to manufacture precision voltage measuring devices This is an incomplete list of measuring devices. word Measures accelerometer acceleration actinometer heating power of sunlight alcoholometer alcoholic strength of liquids altimeter altitude ammeter electric current, amperage , such as digital voltmeters. Finally, the productivity of companies that use these devices, such as those in the aerospace industry, is increased. In order to derive a benefit-to-cost ratio, economists compared the constant dollar benefits versus the constant dollar costs from 1987 (when the first systems became available) through 1999. The ratio, they found, was 5-to-i, and the net benefit was estimated at $45 million. The report, Economic Impact Assessment of the NISTs Josephson Volt Standard Program, is available at www.nist.gov/director/plarming/strategicplanning.htm or by e-mail at gregory.tassey@nist.gov. Media Contact: Fred McGehan, (303) 497-3246; mcgehan @boulder.nist.gov. |
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