A novel, quantum-based vacuum gauge system invented by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has passed its first test to be a true primary standard—that is, intrinsically accurate without the need for calibration.

Precision pressure measurement is of urgent interest to semiconductor fabricators that make their chips layer by layer in vacuum chambers operating at or below one hundred-billionth the pressure of air at sea level. They must rigorously control that environment to ensure product quality.

“The next generations of semiconductor manufacturing, quantum technologies, and particle acceleration-type experiments will all require exquisite vacuum and the ability to measure it accurately,” says NIST senior project scientist Stephen Eckel.

 …