Force metrology

News and Updates

A Billion Tiny Pendulums Could Detect the Universe’s Missing Mass

October 13, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have proposed a novel method for finding dark matter, the cosmos’s

Atomic ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Precisely Measures Materials for Quantum Computers

July 6, 2020

It images single atoms. It maps atomic-scale hills and valleys on metal and insulating surfaces. And it records the flow of current across atom-thin materials

Avoiding the Crack of Doom

February 25, 2019

Just as a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, the deformations and fractures that cause catastrophic failure in materials begin with a few

Introducing the ‘Smart Mirror’

September 17, 2018

Lasers play roles in many manufacturing processes, from welding car parts to crafting engine components with 3D printers.* To control these tasks, manufacturers

Industry Impacts

A man in a hardhat standing on top of the million-pound weight stack with a person standing at the bottom.

Massive Forces for Heavy Industry

Measuring large forces, such as the thrust of a rocket engine or the deflection of an aircraft wing, requires well-calibrated force sensors. NIST’s unique

Projects and Programs

Accurate Calibration of Atomic Force Microscope Cantilever Spring Constants using Laser Doppler Vibrometry

The application of atomic force microscopy to go beyond topographic imaging and accurately measure nanomechanical properties of materials often depends on being

Dynamic Mechanical Metrology: Acceleration, Force, and Acoustics

The Dynamic Mechanical Metrology Project develops new methods to provide accuracy in, and provides calibration services for, acoustic, vibration, acceleration

Publications

Frequency stabilization of nanomechanical resonators using thermally invariant strain engineering

April 6, 2020

Author(s)

Mingkang Wang, Rui Zhang, Bojan R. Ilic, Vladimir A. Aksyuk, Yuxiang Liu

Microfabricated mechanical resonators enable precision measurement and transduction techniques from atomic force microscopy and inertial sensing to magnetometry

Design Considerations to Improve Charpy Instrumented Strikers

March 16, 2020

Author(s)

Nicholas A. Vlajic, Akobuije D. Chijioke, Enrico Lucon

Instrumented impact testing allows the applicability of conventional Charpy tests to be extended toward assessing mechanical properties such as dynamic fracture

Inline Laser Power Measurement by Photon Momentum

February 6, 2019

Author(s)

John H. Lehman, Paul A. Williams, Daniel W. Rahn, Kyle A. Rogers

We present a measurement scheme and instrumentation for quantifying laser power by means of photon momentum. The optical design is optimized such that the

MEMS non-absorbing electromagnetic power sensor employing the effect of radiation pressure

September 9, 2018

Author(s)

Ivan Ryger, Alexandra B. Artusio-Glimpse, Paul A. Williams, Gordon A. Shaw, Matthew T. Simons, Christopher L. Holloway, John H. Lehman

We demonstrate a compact electromagnetic power sensor based on force effects of electromagnetic radiation onto a highly reflective mirror surface. Unlike the