Mass metrology

News and Updates

NIST Researchers Link Cutting-Edge Gravity Research to Safer Operation of Construction Cranes

February 17, 2022

In the beginning, all that Stephan Schlamminger wanted to do was to write down an equation that would help him obtain a more precise value for G, the

Sneezes, Rain Clouds and Ink Jets: NIST Improves the Ability of Optical Microscopes to Measure the Volume of Microdroplets

December 20, 2021

Sneezes, rain clouds, and ink jet printers: They all produce or contain liquid droplets so tiny it would take several billion of them to fill a liter bottle

Measuring Up: NIST Calibrates Masses for Unique Air Force Deadweight Machines

November 18, 2021

Mechanical engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have just finished calibrating several dozen large metal masses, which will be

Projects and Programs

Precision Electro-Mechanical Experiments (PREME)

Ongoing

The Precision Electro-Mechanical Experiments (PREME) program develops precision electro-mechanical measurements for fundamental traceability of the SI units and

Nanometrology: Composition and Structure of Nanomaterials

Ongoing

Advances in methods, instrumentation and analysis protocols are developed to enhance measurement science capabilities in nanomaterial elemental and

Metrology and Standards for Nanoscale Stress

Ongoing

Our objective is to develop accurate measurement methods for the nanoscale stress distributions and surface defects that control device performance and

Quantifying the environmental contributions to mass change

Ongoing

Since the inception of the SI system of units, physical mass artifacts have been disseminated in order to realize the unit of the kilogram, essential to a broad

Publications

The irony of the magnet system for Kibble balances -- a review

March 1, 2022

Author(s)

Stephan Schlamminger, Shisong Lo

The magnet system is an essential component in the Kibble balance, supplying the magnetic flux that plays a vital role as the geometric factor $Bl$. Ironically

Toward a New Primary Standardization of Radionuclide Massic Activity Using Microcalorimetry and Quantitative Milligram-Scale Samples

February 24, 2022

Author(s)

Ryan P. Fitzgerald, Bradley Alpert, Dan Becker, Denis E. Bergeron, Richard Essex, Kelsey Morgan, Svetlana Nour, Galen O'Neil, Dan Schmidt, Gordon A. Shaw, Daniel Swetz, R. Michael Verkouteren, Daikang Yan

We present a new paradigm for the primary standardization of radionuclide activity per mass of solution (Bq/g). Two key enabling capabilities are 4π decay

Measurement of Submilligram Masses Using Electrostatic Force

May 3, 2021

Author(s)

Gordon Shaw, Julian Stirling

Scaling of Mass and Force Using Electrical Metrology

May 3, 2021

Author(s)

Gordon Shaw

The impending redefinition of the International System of Units (SI) allows realization of the kilogram using electrical metrology. It can be shown that