Sandia National Laboratories' Primary Standards Laboratory assures the accuracy of measurements for customers by certifying standards, developing measurement techniques, and advancing the state of the art in metrology, the science that deals with measurement.

Measurement precision is a cornerstone of quality, product reliability and competitiveness, which are all critical components in the design and manufacture of products and components. Metrology is a fundamental tool in building the nation's high-technology products, and is essential in the design and construction of nuclear weapons.

Whereas the laboratory used to work primarily for laboratories within the Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Complex, it recently has been opening up to industry, universities and other government organizations with its designation in November 1994 as a "user facility." User facilities expand on the concept of technology transfer in that they allow businesses quick and easy access to a wide variety of unique capabilities at Sandia.

The 50 metrologists in the Primary Standards Laboratory collaborate with other organizations such as NASA, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Primary Standards Laboratory recently formed a partnership with NIST to help implement a new national calibration laboratory accreditation program.

Vital to achieving the laboratory's expanded mission was the opening of its 55,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in November 1994. Total cost of the building and equipment was about $30 million.

Each year, the laboratory performs more than 2,000 certifications of top-level standards in more than 80 measurement areas covering three broad disciplines: physical, electrical and radiation.

Physical Calibrations
One area of physical calibration involves high-precision dimensional standards for advanced manufacturing. This activity is supported by using a universal coordinate measurement machine, which has the capacity to measure complex shaped objects with a precision of 0.025 micrometers, or the width of about one-third of one-thousandth of a stand of human hair. All precision length measurements are performed interferometrically using the wavelength of laser light for high accuracy.

The laboratory also calibrates gas leak detectors that are used extensively throughout the weapons complex to check the integrity of critical seals and vacuum equipment. Gas leaks are calibrated using specially developed, computer-controlled, high-vacuum, magnetic sector mass spectroscopy.

Other instruments calibrate temperature standards up to 2,300 degrees centigrade. The laboratory has gas-flow standards that are used to calibrate flow meters up to 50 cubic feet per minute.

Electrical Standards
The Primary Standards Laboratory maintains a state-of-the-art DC Josephson Voltage Standard, a wide variety of AC voltage and current standards, and has microwave capabilities that support radar and communication equipment.

Radiation Calibrations
One area of radiation calibration involves measuring the short neutron pulses that are a vital component of nuclear weapons technology. Sandia has the only facility in the United States to calibrate pulse neutron detectors. Other areas of radiation calibration include alpha radiation sources used to calibrate radiation safety monitors and laser power meters for calibrating high-power lasers used in state-of-the-art welding applications.