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Mission

The Optical Technology Division of the Physics Laboratory has the mandate to provide high quality national measurement standards, technical leadership, and support services to advance the use and application of optical technologies spanning the ultraviolet through microwave spectral regions for use by a broad spectrum of customers in industry, government, and academia. As a part of this mandate, the Division has the institutional responsibility for maintaining two SI base units: the unit for temperature, the kelvin, above 1234.96 K and the unit of luminous intensity, the candela. In carrying out this responsibility the Division:

• develops, improves, and maintains the national standards for radiation thermometry, spectroradiometry, photometry, and spectrophotometry;

• disseminates these standards by providing measurement services to customers requiring calibrations of the highest accuracy and contributes to the intellectual reservoir of technical expertise by publishing descriptions of NIST developed advances in metrology in appropriate scientific journals;

• conducts basic, long term theoretical and experimental research in photophysical and photochemical properties of materials, in radiometric and spectroscopic techniques and instrumentation, and in application of optical technologies in scientific and engineering endeavors.

To accomplish these goals in a responsive manner, the Division works closely with other NIST laboratories, industry, academia, and other government agencies in developing programs to meet specific needs in optical metrology. The Division maintains a broad range of fundamental and applied research programs, provides leadership in identifying future needs, develops and provides calibration services, and produces Standard Reference Materials (SRM) to accommodate the various needs of the optical technology community. Additionally, the Division staff are active in professional societies and participate in the activities of the Council for Optical Radiation Measurements (CORM), the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), the Optical Society America (OSA), and the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE). The Division staff lend their expertise and participate in documentary standards activity through the American Society for the Testing of Materials (ASTM) and other documentary standards organizations. As a result of these interactions, the Division gains valuable insight on identifying the emerging needs of American industry which must be met to support the growth of quality manufacturing efforts for the broad range of products that utilize optical technology in some stage of their production. Meeting these needs assists American industry in maintaining a competitive posture in the world market.

The Division employs approximately 50 staff members including scientists, engineers, and support personnel, and maintains a mix of research, development, and measurement support services. It is organized into five groups and operates under a project structure that promotes collaborations across group administrative lines. Each of the projects has an assigned technical leader who is responsible for planning and accomplishing the technical objectives of the project. The project's responsibility often crosses group or divisional lines and requires coordination and priority setting. The project structure is sufficiently flexible to allow for redirection of resources to accomplish newly identified program objectives and has proven to be a useful management tool for assigning responsibility and tracking progress.

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"Technical Activities 2000" - Table of Contents