Eliminating the Middleman: Ultraviolet Scale Realization using a Laser-Driven Plasma Light Source

Published

February 17, 2021

Author(s)

Uwe Arp, Edward W. Hagley, Robert Vest

Abstract

After we replaced the argon mini-arc with a laser-driven light source in the Ultraviolet Spectral Comparator Facility at NIST, we realized that the optical power should be sufficient to use the comparator system for absolute-cryogenic radiometry. Calibrating working standard detectors directly against an absolute-cryogenic radiometer in the Ultraviolet Spectral Comparator Facility, thus eliminating all uncertainties resulting from the use of transfer standards, which were calibrated in a separate system with a different light source and optics. Any uncertainty caused by differences in bandpass, out-off-band radiation, spectral purity, collimation, or data interpolation would be removed. This should reduce the uncertainties of the calibrations, especially in the short-wavelength range below 220 nm. In the end we successfully set-up a twin system resembling the Ultraviolet Spectral Comparator Facility and used this system to perform a primary calibration of several photodiodes, based on an absolute- cryogenic radiometer. We refer to this system as the Ultraviolet Scale Realization Facility or UV-SRF.

Citation

Applied Optics

Volume

60

Issue

6

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://dx.doi.org/10.1364/AO.414700

Local Download

Keywords

radiometry, scale realization, ultraviolet, absolute-cryogenic radiometer

Citation

Arp, U. , Hagley, E. and Vest, R. (2021), Eliminating the Middleman: Ultraviolet Scale Realization using a Laser-Driven Plasma Light Source, Applied Optics, [online], https://dx.doi.org/10.1364/AO.414700 (Accessed October 9, 2025)