February 2007

EEEL Researchers Complete International Comparison of Optical Power Meters

Igor Vayshenker, John Lehman, Dave Livigni and Xiaoyu Li have published, "Trilateral optical power meter comparison between NIST, NMIJ/AIST, and METAS," culminating a multi-year effort to compare measurement results from the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) and the Federal Office of Metrology in Switzerland (METAS). The manuscript is scheduled to appear in the February 2007 issue of Applied Optics. Open-beam- (free field) and optical-fiber-based measurements at wavelengths of 1302 nm and 1546 nm were reported. Three laboratories' reference standards were compared by means of two temperature-controlled, optical trap detectors. Measurement results show the largest differences of less than 4.2 parts in 103, which is within the expanded (k=2) uncertainty for the laboratories' reference standards. This optical power meter comparison shows a reasonably good agreement between NIST, NMIJ, and METAS connecting North America, Japan, and Europe in the realm of international scales. These scales are important to establish a worldwide consistency in measurements of optical power in the area of optical telecommunication.

Contact: Igor Vayshenker, phone 303-497-745