Meta-study of laser power calibrations ranging 20 orders of magnitude with traceability to the kilogram

Published

December 20, 2019

Author(s)

Paul Williams, Matthew Spidell, Joshua A. Hadler, Thomas Gerrits, Amanda Koepke, David J. Livigni, Michelle Stephens, Nathan Tomlin, Gordon Shaw, Jolene D. Splett, Igor Vayshenker, Malcolm White, Christopher Yung, John Lehman

Abstract

Laser power metrology at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ranges 20 orders of magnitude from photon-counting (103 photons/s) to 100 kW (1023 photons/s at a wavelength of 1070 nm). As a part of routine practices, we regularly perform internal (unpublished) comparisons between our various power meters to verify correct operation. Here we use the results of these intercomparisons to demonstrate an unbroken chain tracing each power meter's calibration factor to the NIST cryogenic radiometer (our lowest uncertainty standard, whose SI traceability is through the volt and ohm units). This yields the expected result that all the primary standard measurement techniques agree with each other to within their measurement uncertainty. Then, these intercomparison results are inverted to describe the agreement of the various techniques with our radiation-pressure-based power measurement approach whose SI traceability is through the kilogram. Again, agreement is demonstrated to within the measurement uncertainty. This agreement is reassuring because the measurements are compared over two entirely different traceability paths and show expected agreement in each case. The ramifications of this agreement as well as potential means to improve on it are discussed.

Citation

Metrologia

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Laser power, radiation pressure, meta-study, calibration

Citation

Williams, P. , Spidell, M. , Hadler, J. , Gerrits, T. , Koepke, A. , Livigni, D. , Stephens, M. , Tomlin, N. , Shaw, G. , Splett, J. , Vayshenker, I. , White, M. , Yung, C. and Lehman, J. (2019), Meta-study of laser power calibrations ranging 20 orders of magnitude with traceability to the kilogram, Metrologia, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=928121 (Accessed May 6, 2026)

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