formation and subsequent technological change. A number of regulatory alternatives are listed which could encourage and aid in acquisition of capital.

The study addresses the impact of environmental regulations and provisions of the Internal Revenue Service Code that bear on cost and funding of treatment equipment. Here again, recommendations are suggested for government action.

The major recommendation that rises from consideration of the impact of OSHA regulations on the steel industry is that OSHA should consider broader use of performance standards. Finally, the report recommends actions that the government could take to encourage research and development in the steel industry.

NBS-GCR-ETIP 79-70. Overview report: Experiment in computer applications for regulatory agencies, Temple, Barker & Sloane, Inc. (NBS contact: Darlene Carver), 115 pages (Sept. 1979). Order from NTIS as PB300770.

Key words: computer program; economic performance; electric utilities; Experimental Technology Incentives Program; productivity; regulatory commission; regulatory policy; technological innovation.

This overview undertaken by ETIP was one of several projects designed to learn about regulatory influences upon innovation. These policy experiments were developed in both state and federal situations.

This report presents an overview of research into methods for improving the electric utility regulatory process conducted under Project No. 76 of the Experimental Technology Incentives Program (ETIP), National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce. More detailed reports on the results of the research may be found in separate volumes which are referenced in this overview.

The purpose of the Project was to provide improved analytical and managerial techniques for use in the electric utility regulatory process to learn how technological innovation could be promoted among regulated industries. Computerized tools that would reduce the time required for various analyses undertaken in rate cases and in other regulatory decision problems were developed. The study also considered the need for improvements in the quality and scope of analysis. A secondary emphasis was on managerial and administrative procedures in regulatory commissions.

Four specific areas were addressed in this study. The first area was regulatory lag. This area included: managerial and administrative issues that contribute to regulatory lag; and methods for handling routine calculations required in determining rates. The second area was rate design. The third area was performance evaluation and factor productivity analysis. The final area was long-range planning.

NBS-GCR-ETIP 79-71. An evaluation design concept for regulatory reform: The waiver of efficacy data, H. D. Ojha, T. V. Renda, J. E. Harrison, and J. H. Perwak, 182 pages (Sept. 1979). Order from NTIS as PB300846.

Key words: administrative experimentation; Environmental Protection Agency; evaluation design; Experimental Technology Incentives Program; pesticide policy; regulatory policy; regulatory reform; technological innovation. This report presents an evaluation design concept aimed at supporting the Office of Pesticide Programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in implementing one of its recently adopted regulatory reform efforts-the efficacy data waiver. It documents the policy and administrative settings as well as the evaluation problem associated with the waiver and its implementation. This report also marks the beginning of an experiment evaluation design phase of a larger joint project

between EPA and the Experimental Technology Incentives Program of the National Bureau of Standards Center for Field Methods. The whole project is aimed at improving pesticide regulation so as to improve the environment for technological innovation.

The purpose of this project, as an administrative experiment, has been to develop and evaluate a change in the policy or process of pesticide regulation which could improve the environment for technological innovation. It has proceeded through several stages involving background investigations of pesticide regulations, effects on industry, stakeholders' views, and administrative and regulatory processes. At the present stage, the project is focused on documenting an evaluation design concept which can be used in subsequent phases by OPP to evaluate the efficacy data waiver policy implementation. U.S. Patent 4,139,933. Method for fabricating a scanning electron microscope micrometer scale, D. B. Ballard, F. Ogburn, and J. P. Young, 6 pages (Feb. 20, 1979).

Key words: electrodeposited metal layers; gold-nickel layers; micrometer scale; scanning electron microscope scale.

A microscopic length scale typically about 50 μm long and graduated in several intervals ranging from 1 μm to 20 μm. The scale is useful in calibrating the magnification of scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) and other electron imaging instruments. The scale comprises alternating layers of two metals deposited on a substrate. The two metals have substantially different electron emission coefficients to provide contrasting emission signals when scanned by an electron beam. One of the metals, preferably gold, is deposited in uniform layers about 40-80 nm thick. The other metal, preferably nickel, is deposited in several layers ranging from 1 μm or so thick near the substrate to 20 μm thick in the outermost layer. The resultant multilayer composite is cut into one or more samples and each sample is mounted on edge. The exposed edge is ground and metallographically polished and a microscopic indentation is made in the substrate near the first gold layer. The indentation defines a reference region, and the distances between the first gold layer and the subsequent gold layers in the reference region are measured. The measurement is made using a similar sample which was previously calibrated with the aid of a polarizing layer interferometer.

U.S. Patent 4,140,393. Birefringent crystal thermometer, T. C. Cetas, 9 pages (Feb. 20, 1979).

Key words: aligned sheet polarizer; birefringent crystal; optical analyzer; polarized light; probe thermometer; temperature sensitive parameter.

This invention relates to the use of a birefringent crystal as the sensing element in a probe thermometer constructed of certain basic optical components utilized in three separate modes. Thus, all of the modes of the invention are directed to a probe thermometer which uses the temperature dependence of the birefringence of certain single crystals as the temperature sensitive parameter. One such crystal is a Y-cut single crystal of LiTaO, Alternative crystals having adequate sensitivity in the desired temperature range may be constructed from LiNbO, or BaTiO,. Polarized light propagates through the crystal in two modes, the ordinary ray and the extraordinary ray, which have indices of refraction n° and no. For LiTaO, at room temperature, n = 2.2, B= no - n° = 0.004, and dB/dT = 4.4 × 10°/°C. The intensity of light passed through a sandwich of aligned sheet polarizer, crystal, and optical analyzer is a function of B and hence also is temperature dependent. A thermometer probe is constructed by bonding this sandwich to a bundle of optical fibers along with a dielectric mirror so that the sensor

will be at the probe tip. The probe has been constructed for use in the presence of intense electromagnetic fields and also designed to eliminate the possible hazard of an electrical leakage back to the subject.

U.S. Patent 4,143,520. Cryogenic refrigeration system, J. E. Zimmerman, 8 pages (Mar. 13, 1979).

Key words: low input power cyclic cryogenic refrigerator; multi-stage displacer; Stirling machine; superconducting quantum interfering devices (SQUID).

A simply constructed low input power cyclic cryogenic refrigerator suitable for cooling superconducting quantum interfering devices (SQUID) and similar instruments is provided. A Stirling machine having a multistage displacer and a piston as its only essential moving parts, with helium gas as the working fluid, achieves and maintains a temperature of substantially 8.5 'K. The working cylinder and displacer are separated by a tube and are fitted together precisely at steady-state operation rather than at room temperature. The displacer preferably is made of nylon and its cylinder of an epoxy-glass composite to provide the nearly optimum clearance required to maintain the 8.5 °K temperature for continuous periods on the order of several weeks.

U.S. Patent 4,146,848. Frequency stabilizing system and method for beam type device, H. W. Hellwig, S. Jarvis, Jr., and D. J. Wineland, 10 pages (Mar. 27, 1979).

Key words: beam type device; frequency stabilizing system; microwave interaction regions; microwave signals.

Frequency stabilization of a beam type device is disclosed that is particularly well suited for avoiding cavity phase shift problems. A beam generator provides a molecular or atomic beam that is directed through a pair of spaced and separate interaction regions to a detector. The two interaction regions, such as cavities, provide independent regions into which different signals are injected with the injected signals being derived from an oscillator such as a crystal oscillator. The signal coupled to the interaction regions may be varied according to a general equation. The first signal may also be coupled into one of the interaction regions at a frequency substantially the same as the resonance frequency of the particles in the beam directed through the cavity, while the signal coupled to the other cavity may be caused to vary above and below the resonance frequency. At the detector, the envelope of the pattern impressed on the beam is detected and a correction signal derived therefrom with the correction signal then being coupled as a feedback signal to the oscillator for frequency stabilization thereof.

U.S. Patent 4,148,586. Apparatus for galvanic detection of optical absorptions, R. B. Green, R. A. Keller, G. G. Luther, P. C. Schenck, and J. C. Travis, 7 pages (Apr. 10, 1979).

Key words: opto-galvanic effect; predetermined frequency; spectroscopic and analytic determinations; variable wavelength monochromatic light.

An apparatus and method for utilizing the opto-galvanic effect to perform spectroscopic or analytic investigations of atomic or molecular species. A sample of the substance to be analyzed is vaporized in an analytical flame, gas discharge tube, high temperature furnace or the like, and the vapor is ir radiated with chopped pulsed variable or wavelength monochromatic light. The electrical -resistance of the vapor is monitored as the frequency of the radiation is tuned through one or more electronic transition frequencies of the substance. The resistance spectrum resembles the optical absorption spectrum of the species in the vapor. The opto-galvanic effect may also be used to frequency lock a laser to a transition frequency of a substance in a gas discharge cell.

U.S. Patent 4,152,074. Inverse fourth power photometric calibrator, D. A. Swyt, 6 pages (May 1, 1979).

Key words: inverse fourth power; light flux; photometric calibrator.

A photometric calibrator is disclosed wherein a known and continuously variable amount of light flux received at a detector is linearly proportional to the inverse fourth power of the optical path length between the detector and a primary, quasipoint source of the light flux. The calibrator includes a secondary, quasi-point light flux source wherein the total flux emitted thereby is proportional to the flux received thereby over a quasi-point detecting area located at some distance, d, from the primary source. The detector is located at an equal distance d from the secondary source.

U.S. Patent 4,158,944. Rotary blade coupling for lawn mower, J. Rabinow, 9 pages (June 26, 1979).

Key words: brake; coupling device; cutting blade; deadman's handle; disconnect element; lawnmower; motor shaft.

This invention relates to a coupling device and especially a coupling device operable by a dead-man's handle on a lawnmower. When used in a lawnmower the coupling device couples the motor shaft to the cutting blade. A spool has a hole in it that surrounds the shaft. A rotary connecting device normally couples the spool to the shaft so that the spool and shaft rotate together. A disconnect element and brake are operated when the dead-man's handle is released to disconnect the spool from the shaft and subsequently stop the spool. The cutting blade has a central hole through which the spool passes. The blade is in frictional contact with the flanges of the spool and is rotated thereby.

U.S. Patent 4,165,183. Fringe counting interferometric system for high accuracy measurements, J. L. Hall and S. A. Lee, 15 pages (Aug. 21, 1979).

Key words: counting and control circuitry; fringe counting interferometric method and apparatus; Michelson interferometer; phase locked oscillators; retroreflectors.

A fringe counting interferometric method and apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a fringe-counting Michelson interferometer employing a velocity-stable carriage means for translating the two corner-cube retroreflectors, two phase locked oscillators and counting and control circuitry. Fringe intensity signals are counted for both a reference and unknown beam, and high accuracy is obtained by multiplying reference beam fringe signals by a fixed integral multiplier employing a phase-lock circuit. In comparing the unknown wavelength with the reference, the convenience of direct readout in wavelength units arises from the use of a high resolution preset counter. U.S. Patent 4,166,229. Piezoelectric polymer membrane stress gage, A. S. DeReggi and S. Edelman, 5 pages (Aug. 28, 1979).

Key words: acoustic waves; piezoelectric polymer; preset tensile stress; pressure variations.

Apparatus and method for detecting pressure variations because of acoustic waves by modulating a preset tensile stress in a stretched thin sheet of a piezoelectric polymer. The modulation is provided by the changing stress caused by an impinging acoustic signal or the like. The piezoelectric polymer sheet under a preset tension acts effectively as a membrane resulting in a high output combined with a high resonance frequency and a wide operating frequency range.

Reprints from the journals listed in this section may often be obtained from the authors. See page 3 for additional information.

18318. Hartman, A. W., Piezoelectric inchworm operation in a vacuum, Opt. Eng. 17, No. 6, 645-646 (Nov.-Dec. 1978).

Key words: high vacuum; interferometry; piezo-electric positioner.

An "inchworm"-type piezoelectric displacement device has been tested for operation in a vacuum. Comparative data are given for its operation at two pressures (1 atmosphere and 10to 10 torr), three loads (0, 8, 15 N), and four speeds in the range 0.5 to 50 micrometers per second. The results are such that the device is now being applied successfully to drive an X-Y stage in a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

18319. McNeil, J. R., Johnson, W. L., Collins, G. J., Persson, K. B., Franzen, D. L., Laser action in sputtered metal vapors, Proc. IXth Int. Conf. on Quantum Electronics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 14-18, 1976, pp. 162-163 (North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1976).

Key words: Cu II; cw laser action.

We have obtained cw laser action on twenty-eight transitions of Cu II spanning the wavelength region from 2486 Å to 7988 Å and on four transitions of Ag II in the visible region. Threshold currents for the 2500 Å transitions of Cu II are typically 6 A and 10 mW of cw output power was obtained at 10 A, the limit of our d.c. power supply.

18320. Miller, C. K. S., Millimeter wave metrology capabilities at NBS, Proc. 1974 Millimeter Waves Techniques Conf., San Diego, CA, Mar. 26-28, 1974, 11 pages (Naval Electronics Laboratory Center, San Diego, CA, 1974).

Key words: millimeter waves; standards.

This paper is a brief survey paper of the millimeter wave metrology capabilities of the Electromagnetics Division of the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado. The measures and quantities covered include power, attenuation, impedance, noise, and antenna gain. The basis for the metrology capabilities are briefly sketched to identify the reference standards used, the transfer system, measurement techniques, and accuracy of the final measurement process. Calibration services offered are identified. A few comments are made about millimeter wave flanges and the precise measurement of amplifier noise. This paper gives an overview of the state of precise millimeter wave measurement capabilities at NBS and refers liberally to recent publications that detail these capabilities.

18321. Robertson, B., Application of maximum entropy to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, Proc. Maximum Entropy Formalism Conf., Cambridge, MA, May 2-4, 1978, R. D. Levine and M. Tribus, Eds., pp. 289-320 (The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1978).

Key words: correlation functions; equations of motion; maximum entropy; nonequilibrium statistical mechanics; nonequilibrium thermodynamics; projection operator.

This paper reviews the use of the maximum entropy formalism (MEF) on an isolated system that may be arbitrarily far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Information for one instant of time is collected because it gives the entire equilibrium thermodynamic formalism for a system far from equilibrium. In particular, the MEF entropy is then a suitable expression for the thermodynamic entropy for a nonequilibrium system. The MEF yields a general expression for a projection operator. This is used with the Liouville equation to derive an exact expression for the nonequilibrium statistical density. This immediately gives exact closed equations of motion for the time dependence of the expectations that appear as constraints in the MEF. The equations are integrodifferential equations whose kernels are generalizations of rate-rate time-correlation functions. The equations are also written using flux operators satisfying conservation equations, and the memory-retaining nonlocal generalizations of the equations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics are obtained. The kernels in these equations are flux-flux time-correlation functions. The appearance of the projection operator in the correlation functions has important consequences for their asymptotic time dependence. References to specific applications of the formalism and to related work are given.

18322. Sawyer, D. E., Solar cell measurement technique development and other services, Proc. Photovoltaics Program Semi-Annual Review Advanced Materials R&D Branch, Golden, CO, Oct. 4-6, 1977, pp. 708-713 (Available as Dept. of Energy CONF-771051 from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161, 1978).

Key words: laser scanner; measurement development; photovoltaics; reliability; solar arrays; solar cells; workshops.

The development of solar cell measurement techniques using a laser scanner is a major portion of a new program which will be initiated for ERDA. The other portion is to assist ERDA with supportive activities such as helping organize workshops and symposia and hosting these events.

18323. Waclawski, B. J., Gadzuk, J. W., Herbst, J. F., uv photoemission for rare gases implanted in Ge, Phys. Rev. Lett. 41, No. 8, 583-586 (Aug. 21, 1978).

Key words: amorphous germanium; binding energy shifts; extra-atomic screening; implants; ion bombardment; raregases; relaxation energy; ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy.

The first ultraviolet photoemission spectra of the valence electrons of rare-gas atoms, implanted by ion bombardment into an amorphous Ge matrix, are presented here. The posi