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Dixson and Fu Receive NIST Applied Research Award

Ronald G. Dixson, and Joseph N. Fu, today received the Applied Research Award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dixson, a physicist, and Fu, a materials research engineer, both work in the NIST Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory.

They are being honored for developing the NIST Calibrated Atomic Force Microscope, a tool for high-accuracy measurements at the atomic level. The C-AFM has been used to measure the dimensions of and set measurement standards for step heights, spacing standards, linewidths and other features of semiconductors. The standards developed are then used by NIST to provide semiconductor manufacturers with a calibration service for their industrial microscopes.

As a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration, NIST strengthens the U.S. economy and improves the quality of life by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards through four partnerships: the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Measurement and Standards Laboratories, the Advanced Technology Program, and the Baldrige National Quality Program.

Released December 1, 1999, Updated November 6, 2020