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Projects/Programs

Topic Area
Displaying 101 - 125 of 470
ionization chambers

Comparisons: NIST Participation in International Intercomparisons

Ongoing
The NIST Radioactivity Group pilots and participates in a variety of different comparison activities. The BIPM’s Consultative Committee on Ionizing Radiation (CCRI) organizes formal comparisons (“key comparisons”) of long-lived radionuclides through its Key Comparison Working Group (KCWG-II). As
illustration

Comparisons: Radiological Traceability Program (RTP)

Ongoing
The RTP provides an annual exchange of PT materials between NIST and RESL. It is designed to provide a mechanism for evaluating the ability of RESL scientists to prepare PT materials containing known activities of various radionuclides (Table 1), and to analyze materials of unknown activities in 6
simulated 3d SEM images of a 60nm gold nanoparticle

Computational Scanning Electron Microscopy

Ongoing
In many cases, SEM measurements are carried out without knowledge of the best measurement conditions, partly due to engineering limits of the SEM, but also due to lack of thorough knowledge of the physics of the signal generation. For example, in many cases the best-quality results can be obtained
Cryogenic Photonic Interconnects illustration

Cryogenic Photonic Interconnects

Ongoing
Microwave photonics, where optical systems are employed to transport, filter, generate, or otherwise process microwave and millimeter wave signals, takes advantage of the large bandwidth, low loss, and low noise of optical systems, as well as the long reach of optical fiber interconnects. We are
thin-film payload

Cryogenics

Ongoing
Almost all the devices developed by the Quantum Sensors Group work at temperatures below liquid helium. Sometimes, it is necessary to develop specialized cryogenics to test the devices, or to facilitate their dissemination to outside users. The cryogenics team also aims to make refrigerators more
EUV optics degradation in space

Degradation of extreme-ultraviolet optics

Ongoing
The primary degradation process in EUVL tools and satellite instruments begins by the adsorption of water or carbonaceous molecules from the vacuum environment onto the optic surface. The optic is damaged if the molecule undergoes photon-stimulated decomposition before it can (reversibly) thermally
Illustration of Doppler thermometry

Deployable Doppler Thermometry

Ongoing
Accurate temperature measurements are essential to many industrial processes, including petrochemical or pharmaceutical production and nuclear power generation. Typical process control thermometers, such as resistance temperature detectors, are known to drift over time and degrade when subject to
3D rendered STM image

Designing Advanced Scanning Probe Microscopy Instruments

Ongoing
SPM is a general acronym for various probe instruments. The "P" in SPM stands for various types of probe measurements, such as capacitance (C), force (F), tunneling (T), etc. The scanning tunneling microscope (STM), including custom designs at the CNST, uses the quantum mechanical principle of
joint quantum institute

Designing the Nanoworld: Nanostructure, Nanodevices, and Nano-optics

Ongoing
Developing and exploiting nanodevices for quantum and nanotechnologies requires nanoscale and atomic scale modeling of ultrasmall structures, devices, their operation, and their response to probes. Key challenges of understanding physics at the quantum/classical interface and measurement at the

Detector metrology

Ongoing
Improved detector technology in the past two decades has opened a new era in detector metrology of optical radiation measurements. Lower calibration and measurement uncertainties can be achieved with modern detector/radiometer standards than traditionally used source standards (blackbodies and lamps
PCB

Detector Readout Project

Ongoing
NIST’s Quantum Sensors Division develops highly sensitive cryogenic sensors, for example transition-edge sensors (TESs) and kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs), to enable precision measurements in a large range of scientific applications. The successful implementation of these novel sensor

Detector-based color scale

Ongoing
The expanded uncertainty of the NIST primary color-temperature lamp-standards is 8 K ( k=2). However, both the long-term stability and the spectral distribution of the lamps can significantly change with burning time. By performing the tristimulus colorimeter calibrations against detector standards

Development of differential absorption LIDAR Technologies

Ongoing
The basic processes involved in elastic backscatter LIDAR are as follows. A laser emits a pulse of light (typically a few nanoseconds), and as the pulse propagates, the photons interact with molecules and aerosol particles. Some of these, the interactions with aerosols, such as Mie and Rayleigh
Nitrogen-vacancy center in a diamond crystal

Diamond NV Center Magnetometry

Completed
A flaw in a crystal might not be an intuitive choice for a measurement tool, but the nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) defect in diamond is something special. Using light, we prepare the NV- center’s the quantum spin state, it interacts with magnetic fields, and we read out the resulting spin state through
Figure 1. Class of optical setup considered in this work. The aperture can be limiting (as shown in this case) or nonlimiting.

Diffraction effects in radiometry

Ongoing
Essentially, classical radiometry relies on geometrical optics (to relate source radiance), geometrical aspects of an optical layout, and the irradiance at the detector. One considers the propagation of radiation from points on the surface of the source to points on the surface of the detector. In
Primary M48 CMM

Dimensional Measurement Services

Ongoing
The Dimensional Measurement Services project promotes manufacturing innovation and U.S. industrial competitiveness by providing critical technology-enabling high accuracy dimensional measurements within an internationally accepted quality system. These measurements span the dimensional metrology
SEM measurement of PS-PMMA lamellae on a neutral substrate

Directed Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers (Archived)

Completed
Diblock copolymers are long molecular chain polymers with two (di) regions, or blocks, of dissimilar monomers. They are constructed by covalently linking two different polymer chains at their ends. The two regions can be chosen so that they repel each other. Normally mixtures of different polymers
Schematic showing DNA origami in a laser beam

DNA Origami for Precise Manufacturing of Nanoscale Structures

Completed
The base pairing of adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine to form DNA provides a robust molecular recognition scheme that can be used to create a wide variety of well-ordered nanostructures. DNA origami, which uses a long scaffold strand folded together by specific sets of short staple strands
ANSI/IEEE N42.42 Standard

Documentary Standards: ANSI/IEEE N42.42 Standard

Completed
The ANSI/IEEE N42.42 standard specifies the XML data format that shall be used for both required and optional data to be made available by radiation measurement instruments. The performance requirements for these types of instruments are described in other standards. The output from these

Documentary Standards: IEC 62755 Standard N42 Data Format

Ongoing
The IEC 62755 standard specifies the XML data format that shall be used for both required and optional data to be made available by radiation measurement instruments. The performance requirements for these types of instruments are described in other IEC standards. The output from these instruments
standards for the detection of illicit trafficking of radioactive materials

Documentary Standards: Radiation Detection Documentary Standards Program

Ongoing
NIST leads and participates in the development and revision of documentary ANSI/IEEE (ANSI N42 standards currently transitioning to IEEE IMS TC 45 committee) and IEC (TC 45 WG B15 committee) standards that provide requirements and test methods for instruments used for the detection of illicit