The realization of the NIST detector-based spectral irradiance scale

The realization of a detector-based spectral irradiance scale at the National Institute of Standards and Technology is described. The new scale is established using filter radiometers calibrated for absolute spectral power responsivity traceable to the NIST High-Accuracy Cryogenic Radiometer unlike the previous NIST spectral irradiance scales based upon the gold freezing-point blackbody. The radiance temperatures of a high-temperature blackbody (HTBB) operating near 3000 K are found using calibrated filter radiometers. The spectral irradiances of a group of 1000 W FEL lamps are assigned using the spectral irradiance of the HTBB determined using the knowledge of the geometric factors and the detector-based radiance temperatures. The detector-based spectral irradiance scale leads to a reduction in the uncertainties from the previous, source-based, spectral irradiance scales by at least a factor of two in the ultraviolet and visible wavelength regions, and also leads to a reduction in the uncertainties in the short-wave infrared wavelength region by at least a factor of two to ten, depending on the wavelength. Following the establishment of the spectral irradiance scale in the early 1960s, the detector-based spectral irradiance scale represents a fundamental change in the way that the NIST spectral irradiance scale is realized, and beginning in the calendar year 2001, all spectral irradiance sources are issued using the detector-based scale.