Energy- and intensity-tunable monochromatic X-ray sources enable new developments in X-ray metrology. The fundamental parameters characterizing photon-matter interactions can be determined with relative standard uncertainties around 1–2%. The characteristics of the SOLEX laboratory source and of the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation source are discussed. The procedures for measuring mass attenuation coefficients and fluorescence yields are detailed; examples are presented for copper, cadmium and germanium. These new sources with associated instrumentation will allow developing improved techniques for reference-free quantification by X-ray fluorescence.

This paper describes a transportable system based on synthetic wavelength interferometry for absolute distance measurement. The synthetic wavelength is generated by means of two frequency-doubled Nd:YAG lasers. A superheterodyne technique has been implemented to detect the synthetic phase, enabling a fringe interpolation of ∼2π/5 600. A ∼5 μm accuracy (1σ) is demonstrated over 25 m, based on an indoor comparison with a classical fringe counting interferometer. An outdoor comparison has been carried out on a 864 m-long standard baseline located in Finland (Nummela), yielding an uncertainty of 700 μm (1σ). This work was carried out within the framework of the “Long distance” EMRP project that ended on June 2011.

This article is a review about “additive manufacturing”, popularized under “3D printing”, and takes an inventory of the tests and metrological needs that the technology generates. It defines additive manufacturing and presents the materials used, the significance and the brakes of the technology, and application areas. It also lists and describes in detail the principle of the seven categories of processes that the technology counts.