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Gaithersburg

Optoelectrical Characterization of Nanostructured Photovoltaic Materials and Devices

Photovoltaics technology is usually categorized into three generations: 1) devices based on polysilicon; 2) devices based on thin-film direct bandgap

Comments Sought on NIST Guidelines for Structural Fire Resistance

March 10, 2009

A new draft report released for public comment by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides a comprehensive set of "best practice"...

Safer Net Surfing Is Goal of NIST Domain Name Security Experts

March 10, 2009

When you type www.irs.gov—or the Web address of your bank or an e-commerce site—into your web browser, you want to be sure that no one is hijacking your request...

New Report Summarizes Federal Tech Transfer Activities

February 24, 2009

Collaborative research agreements, invention licenses and several other technology transfer activities of the federal government trended upward between 2002 and...

NanoFab Adds New Capbilities

February 24, 2009

The NanoFab (nanoscale fabrication facility) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is expanding its capabilities to serve researchers...

Researchers Demonstrate Novel 'Quantum Data Buffering' Scheme

February 24, 2009

In a new demonstration of physicists' growing ability to control the "spooky" quantum dynamics phenomenon called entanglement, researchers from the National...

Photo of researchers from France's National Scientific and Technological Institute and NIST with the SPHERE

NIST and French Lab to Study Weathering of Advanced Composites for Bridges and Piers

February 24, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has signed an agreement to collaborate with the French Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées...

Financial Operations Division

The Financial Operations Division is responsible for providing accurate, complete, and timely financial information in support of accounting...

Budget Division

The Budget Division is responsible for the preparation, review, justification, presentation, defense and execution of NIST's budget. The...

Updated Recommendations for Protecting Wireless, Remote Access Data

February 24, 2009

Telecommuting has freed many to work far from the confines of the office via laptop, but the price of working while sipping a latte at that sunny café is the...

"Dressed" Rubidium Atoms May Reveal Clues for Exotic Computing

February 24, 2009

Neutral atoms—having no net electric charge—usually don't act very dramatically around a magnetic field. But by "dressing them up" with light, researchers at...

Illustration of preservatives surrounding and protecting complex molecules

Probing and Controlling 'Molecular Rattling' May Mean Better Preservatives

February 24, 2009

For centuries, people have preserved fruit by mixing it with sugar, making thick jams that last for months without spoiling. Now scientists at the National...

First Major Update to SP 800-53 Is Available for Public Comment

February 10, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued for public comment its first major update of Special Publication 800-53, the catalog of...

New Reference Material Can Improve Testing of Multivitamin Tablets

February 10, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a new certified reference material that can be an important quality assurance tool for...

Statute of Liberty from Hudson County, NJ

New Reference Material for Hexavalent Chromium in Contaminated Soil

January 27, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a new standard—a certified reference material—to aid in the detection and measurement of...

The barely visible blue-green area at the top of this X-ray image of concrete with the NIST nanoadditive shows that very few chloride ions penetrate into the concrete.

Viscosity-Enhancing Nanomaterials May Double Service Life of Concrete

January 27, 2009

Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key...

For Refrigeration Problems, a Magnetically Attractive Solution

January 27, 2009

Your refrigerator's humming, electricity-guzzling cooling system could soon be a lot smaller, quieter and more economical thanks to an exotic metal alloy...

Sorting Diamonds from Toothbrushes: New Guide to Protecting Personal Information

January 13, 2009

Thefts of personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security and credit card account numbers, are increasing dramatically. Adding to the...

Absolute cryogenic infrared radiometry at the LBIR facility

In support of defense programs in remote sensing, NIST maintains the scale for infrared radiant flux by using an Absolute Cryogenic radiometer (ACR) in a low

Simply Weird Stuff: Making Supersolids with Ultracold Gas Atoms

January 13, 2009

Physicists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have proposed a...

NIST researchers have developed a new technique to form nanotubes for use in gas sensing applications.

Super Sensitive Gas Detector Goes Down the Nanotubes

January 13, 2009

When cells are under stress, they blow off steam by releasing minute amounts of nitrogen oxides and other toxic gases. In a recent paper, researchers at the...

New Tool Gives Researchers a Glimpse of Biomolecules in Motion

January 13, 2009

The ability of biomolecules to flex and bend is important for the performance of many functions within living cells. However, researchers interested in how...

NIST Physicist Honored in 2008 Presidential Rank Awards

October 28, 2008

W illiam R. Ott, deputy director of the NIST Physics Laboratory, has been named as a recipient of the 2008 Presidential Rank Award. The awards recognize...

Fire Videos Dramatize Christmas Tree Safety Measures

October 28, 2008

As the weather grows cold and people start planning for the holidays, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have released two...

Illustration of a new chemical sensor that is comprised of 16 microheater elements and eight types of sensors

Sniffing Out a Better Chemical Sensor

October 28, 2008

Marrying a sensitive detector technology capable of distinguishing hundreds of different chemical compounds with a pattern-recognition module that mimics the...

Metric Publications

As of August 16, 2023 the physics.nist.gov historic SI Units site has permanently retired. This page and complete Metric (SI) Program...

NIST Seeks Diverse Team for Constructing State-of-the-Art Laboratory

May 31, 2000

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, is soliciting proposals for the services...

top image: black and white iris. bottom image: pixelated black and white iris image.

NIST Test Proves 'The Eyes Have It' for ID Verification

November 3, 2009

The eyes may be the mirror to the soul, but the iris reveals a person's true identity–its intricate structure constitutes a powerful biometric. A new report by...

Computer-generated image of the structure for C-reactive protein

NIST Quantifies Low Levels of 'Heart Attack Risk' Protein

November 3, 2009

Searching for a needle in a haystack may seem futile, but it's worth it if the needle is a hard-to-detect protein that may identify a person at high risk of a...

Proposed Agreement Aims to Simplify Lab Accreditation

May 23, 2000

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, and the National Cooperation for...

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