[volt-nuts] Is there a "standard" much better than a LTZ1000, but much cheaper than a Josephson Junction Array?

[Ken Peek]

I asked this same question of Sam Benz at NIST via email...   And the
answer I got was:

... crickets ...

Maybe he was on vacation, or just didn't have the time to answer my
questions... ??

But it dawned on me that NIST had been looking for years for different
voltage standards to replace the standard cell, and then later to be an
upgrade to the Zener diode-- they must have had a list of things to try,
with some better than others, and no doubt all of them had "issues"; but it
just well may be that there is a technology that is better than a Zener but
not as good as a JJA.  NIST always shoots for the best accuracy that they
can get (no matter the cost), and so maybe some of these prospective ideas
got permanently tabled.  Unless NIST is willing to talk about them, then we
will probably never know I think...

I have been looking into buried Zeners using different semiconductor
materials-- e.g. Silicon Carbide shows promise, and there may be other
semiconductor systems that could be used in the same way...  I haven't
found anything mush on this though-- it seems the JJA has practically
killed almost all research in this area.

So, I'm with you on this-- *IS* there something better than a Zener, but
less cost than a JJA system?

-Ken