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Projects/Programs

Topic Area
Displaying 151 - 175 of 470
NRIP illustration

Environmental: NIST Radiochemistry Intercomparison Program (NRIP)

Ongoing
The NRIP includes five matrices (acidified water, air filters, soil, synthetic urine and synthetic feces) of test samples spiked with a well-characterized solution that contains alpha-, beta-, and gamma-emitting radionuclides (see Table 1). The NRIP participants decide which radionuclides they will
Harnessing EUV capabilities for non-destructive metrology

EUV Scatterometry

Ongoing
To measure and inspect the smallest printed features on an IC chip, researchers and manufacturers use a combination of electron scanning modalities (i.e., transmission electron and scanning electron microscopies) and an optical method, scatterometry. Industrially, the most common modality for
Zone Plate Schematic

EUV Zone Plates for Compact Solar Radiometer

Ongoing
A zone plate is an optical element used to separate and focus individual wavelengths of light. The zone plate consists of small circular rings that are opaque to the light separated by gaps, which are transparent. The incident light diffracts from the zone plate at an angle that depends on the
A time series of a MoS2 flake exposed to increasing time under electrical stress shows the growth of defects denoted with red and yellow areas over time. S= source and D = drain electrode.

Evaluation of 2D and WBG Material Quality Toward Device Reliability

Ongoing
Two-dimensional (2D) and wide band gap (WBG) materials are some of the latest materials classes having the potential to be transformative because of their high carrier mobilities, tunable bandgap, and atomic-scale film thicknesses. Unexpected degradation and failure in device performance is often
Organic light emitting diode, light output is modulated through magnetic control of exciton states

Exciton and Charge Transport Dynamics in Organic Semiconductors

Ongoing
Our approach toward establishing connections between the application space and physical phenomena includes developing electrical/optical devices and measurements that can be used for physical measurement, physical measurements that can be applied to real devices, and device design that can be tuned
extreme atom probe tomography illustration

Extreme Atom Probe Tomography

Ongoing
Sub-nanometer-resolved 3-D chemical mapping of any atom in any solid continues to be an imperative goal of materials research. If reduced to practice, it would have profound scientific, engineering, and economic impacts on U.S. industries collectively worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Such
silicon photodiode

Extreme Ultraviolet Detector Calibration Service

Ongoing
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a wide variety of programs for the calibration of instruments and components for space-based research in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Many of these programs have been in existence since the 1960s, and have provided calibration support
Reflectance of two materials

Extreme ultraviolet optical constants

Ongoing
Measurements of EUV optical constants are often made by measuring the absorption or near-normal-incidence reflectivity, then performing transforms to obtain both the real and imaginary parts of the index. These sorts of measurements have considerable uncertainty because they require knowledge of
A high-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer

Fabry-Perot Displacement Interferometry

Ongoing
Fabry-Perot interferometry has the highest resolution of any displacement sensor, below one picometer, and yet may be used to measure displacements of many centimeters. Equally important, it enables a natural and direct link to the SI unit of length, defined in terms of the speed of light. We are
bolometer

Far infrared remote sensing

Ongoing
The Total Solar Irradiance and the outgoing Earth radiance are long term measurements that have been monitored from space for over 40 years. Microfabricated, absolutely calibrated bolometers with vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes that are developed by this project provide a more accurate and more
Schematic of four-arm digital impedance bridge

Farad and Impedance Metrology

Ongoing
The primary facility for connecting the U.S. legal system of electrical units to the international system of units is the NIST calculable capacitor, with which the measurement of capacitance is effectively achieved through a measurement of length. Both the calculable capacitor and the chain of high
Diagram showing our multidimensional spectroscopy experiment.

Femtosecond Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy of Nanoscale Materials

Ongoing
The purpose of this project is to develop and refine spectroscopic techniques based on nonlinear optics for the study of novel materials. Measurements that isolate the nonlinear response are often better able to uncover physical processes that, in the linear response, are subtle and hard to isolate

Femtosecond-Laser Frequency Combs for Optical Clocks

Ongoing
The self-referenced optical frequency comb, which our NIST/University of Colorado collaboration first demonstrated in 1999, ushered in a revolution in optical frequency metrology. The frequency comb made it possible to directly count optical cycles with femtosecond resolution using a compact and
Web interface to control and monitor the servo with interactive blocks

Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Designs for Metrology

Ongoing
Until recently, the precision measurement of phase noise, spectral purity, and related quantities had been a challenging process, with only a handful of qualified experts in the world. However, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based measurement systems, similar to software defined radio (SDR)
prototype system

Fixed Point Development: Non-Metals

Ongoing
A fixed point is a reproducible reference temperature, usually either melting of freezing of a pure substance, that allows a standardized interpolation scheme for the purposes of temperature scale dissemination. Most SPRTs are long-stem designs that require immersion-type fixed points incorporating
SLowFlowS diagrams

Flow Metering and Properties for Semiconductor Process Gases

Ongoing
A type of flow meter called a mass flow controller (MFC) is used to regulate gas flow in order to produce the desired structures during chip fabrication. As semiconductor manufacturing advances, the requirements on MFC performance are increasingly strict: any process variation can reduce device

Fluctuations and Nanoscale Control (Archived)

Completed
In liquids, the motion of a nanoparticle results from a complex interplay of fluid flow, external and internal dynamics, and random Brownian motion. Each of these processes leads to fluctuations in a measured signal. Normally it is an important (and difficult) task for the experimenter is to

Fluctuations and Nanoscale Control Software (Archived)

Completed
For each file YYY.m, type "doc YYY" from the Matlab command prompt for documentation, literature references, and usage guidelines. DSigma2_Est.m Estimates the diffusion coefficient (D) and localization noise (σ 2 or "Sigma2") from single-particle tracking data. It implements the algorithms for the
Focused-ion-beam machining images

Focused-ion-beam machining

Ongoing
Structure determines function in diverse nanotechnologies, so that making devices to control or measure nanoscale phenomena begins with control of nanoscale structure. Few fabrication systems outperform the focused ion beam to pattern nanostructures by directing ions of various elements to an
Mechanical stylus instrument

Forensic Topography and Surface Metrology

Ongoing
Surface texture and microform Surface texture affects the functionality of many products, ranging from bearings to semiconductors and optics. Affected properties include aesthetics, friction, wear, lubrication, sealing, light scattering, and conductivity. Improvements in parameters and metrology to
forest

FOREST

Ongoing
The goals of the research are to: Provide a testbed (Forested Optical Reference for Evaluating Sensor Technology, FOREST) for ecophysiological and optical sensors with well-established reference points Quantify ecosystem phenomenology that will allow for better estimates of productivity Link leaf
infrared starlight

Frequency Comb Calibration of Astronomical Spectrographs

Ongoing
A powerful technique for finding exo-planets is based on measuring the tiny Doppler shifts in the light from a star that is induced by the presence of orbiting planets. While many exo-planets have been discovered using this Doppler radial velocity (RV) technique, it remains a significant technical