Standards for Accuracy

The instrumentation described in our catalog website is supported throughout its development, manufacturing, and life service through the dedication of our Metrology Services staff. In the technological areas in which we participate, our metrology capabilities are diverse and under constant review. We assist the efforts of organizations such as the National Conference of Standards Laboratories (NCSL) through direct participation.

The level of accuracy required to support our manufacturing processes and the calibration of these products is very demanding. The charts shown here outline our path of traceability to standards maintained at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or other nationally or internationally-recognized laboratories. For example, our in-house Josephson Junction Array Voltage Standard System provides an intrinsic standard for DC voltage that has been verified through a comparison program requiring the participation of other laboratories, including NIST.

The Josephson Junction Standard, a cryogenic system with an inherent accuracy of 0.00000003V (0.03 ppm), embodies the definition of the standard volt and is the most widely recognized voltage standard in the world. Few other facilities in the world have the advantage of an in-house Josephson Junction system for DC voltage verification.

As electronics facilities and other world-class manufacturers seek greater control over the accuracy of their own products, quality systems such as ISO-9000 increasingly demand instrumentation accuracy that's traceable to international standards. Users of Keithley instrumentation can be confident they're getting the accuracy they've paid for because these products are backed by a combination of the right calibration equipment and a team of people dedicated to ensuring accuracy and compliance to specifications.