Material Measurement Laboratory

A picture of a keyboard with a key labelled "lexicon"

The NIST Bioeconomy Lexicon Aids Measurement of a Vital Industry Sector

NIST Supports Transition to a Circular Economy

Standard Reference Material for Cigarette Tobacco Filler (SRM 3222)

About the Material Measurement Laboratory

The NIST Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) conducts measurement science research to benefit industries based in the chemical, biological, and material sciences, and contributes technical expertise to the development of standards. MML researchers perform fundamental and applied research, evaluate data, and create other programs and tools to assure the quality of measurement results.

Our work supports areas of national importance:

We contribute to the development of new vaccines and biologic drugs
Characterize the performance of alternative fuels and refrigerants with less greenhouse gas potential
Assess pollutants including ocean plastics
Help develop new materials for lightweight, fuel efficient transportation, and much more.

Projects & Programs

PhaseSeparation-predictions in Mo(S,Te)2 on Bulk

Advanced Materials Design: Electronic and Functional Applications

Ongoing

Accelerating Materials Discovery using Machine Learning and AI Using machine learning and AI techniques along with high-throughput DFT calculations materials with specific properties are identified to accelerate the the discovery process for a variety of applications. Some of the specific materials

Characterization of Nano-to-Microscale Process-Induced Thermo-Mechanical Changes in Heterogeneously Integrated Microelectronics

Ongoing

Across the entire semiconductor industry, issues related to thermomechanical mismatches encountered during packaging are limiting factors in the design and fabrication of 3D modular integrated circuits. This project will develop novel and necessary metrologies for thermomechanical properties of

Chain orientation of polyethylene by polarization BCARS

3D Molecular Orientation Imaging

Ongoing

We have developed 3D orientation measurement techniques by analyzing polarization-dependent molecular vibrational signals based on infrared (IR) absorption [1,2] and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) [3]. The two imaging modalities are complementary to each other: IR imaging broadly

News & Updates

An image showing 22 pairs of numbered and color-coded chromosomes on a black background.

NIST Releases Trove of Genetic Data to Spur Cancer Research

July 16, 2025

NIST and collaborating institutions have released extensive data about the genome of pancreatic cancer cells.

New NIST reference material to support mRNA therapeutics

July 14, 2025

Messenger RNA ( mRNA)-based therapies require a careful assessment of Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs) using various analytical techniques, to ensure

SRM Story: SRM 1224 Carbon Steel, AISI 1078 (disk form)

July 7, 2025

Do you ever think about how steel can be used for surgical instruments, reinforced concrete, cookware, ball bearings, railroad tracks, generating electricity

Events

Hackathon: Building Bridges for Better Self-Driving Laboratory Software

Mon, Aug 18 - Tue, Aug 19 2025

We are pleased to announce a hackathon to build bridges for better self-driving laboratory software. A growing number of

Workshop Towards an Autonomous Materials Research Ecosystem

Tue, Sep 9 - Wed, Sep 10 2025

Autonomous and automated experimentation have demonstrated the possibility of accelerating materials research and

Building a Path Forward for Meaningful Cannabis Breathalyzer Realization

Wed, Sep 24 - Thu, Sep 25 2025

We are bringing together participants from government, forensic laboratories, industry, academia, law enforcement

Publications

Inter-tool analysis of a NIST dataset for assessing baseline nucleic acid sequence screening

July 10, 2025

Author(s)

Tyler Laird, Kevin Flyangolts, Craig Bartling, Bryan Gemler, Jacob Beal, Tom Mitchell, Steven T. Murphy, Jens Berlips, Leonard Foner, Ryan Doughty, Felix Qunitana, Michael Nute, Todd J. Treangen, Gene D. Godbold, Krista Ternus, Tessa Alexanian, Nicole Wheeler, Samuel Forry

Nucleic acid synthesis is a dual-use technology that can benefit fields such as biology, medicine, and information storage. However, synthetic nucleic acids

Reference Correlation of the Viscosity of Argon

July 10, 2025

Author(s)

Sofia Sotiriadou, Konstantinos Antoniadis, Marc Assael, Marcia Huber

This paper presents a new wide-ranging reference correlation for the viscosity of argon, incorporating recent ab initio dilute gas calculations and critically

Improved Partition Functions and Related Thermochemical Quantities for the (16)O2 and H2(16)O Molecules

July 10, 2025

Author(s)

Tibor Furtenbacher, Allan Harvey, Attila G Császár

Based on the direct summation technique, improved ideal-gas partition functions and related thermochemical quantities are reported for the parent isotopologues

Awards

2025 - Resolve Award---Lili Wang

The Resolve Award celebrates individuals who uplift the world through science. Lili Wang of the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory was

Woman standing in office with long wavy blonde hair, glassses, and a closed mouth smile. She is wearing a a gray cardigan over a black with white dots shirt.

2025 - Letters to a Pre-Scientist Award---Sierra Miller

Letters to a Pre-Scientist (LPS) connects students to STEM professionals through snail mail to broaden students ’ awareness of what STEM

2025 - Federal Laboratory Consortium Impact Award---RaDAR Program

The RaDAR Program provides comprehensive drug testing data to 13 states and territories across the U.S. In total, more than 10,000 samples

Press Coverage

The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border

The Washington Post

May 31, 2025

The reasons behind the decrease of fentanyl seizures in the U.S. and along the Mexico-U.S. border are complex.

Hrabe Interviewed by AmericaMakes for TCT Magazine Article on Additive Manufacturing

TCT Magazine

August 5, 2024

Nik Hrabe of the Applied Chemicals and Materials Division was recently interviewed by AmericaMakes for their TCT Magazine.

Two men in suits stand behind a display table displaying a laptop and a low cost materials science robot.

NIST Staff Demonstrate Low-Cost Self-Driving Lab at U.S. Senate Robotics Showcase on Capitol Hill

Maryland Energy Innovation Institute

April 30, 2024

Senate Robotics Demo Day: On April 30, 2024, scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Material Measurement Laboratory, in

Material Measurement Laboratory

About the Material Measurement Laboratory

Our work supports areas of national importance:

Projects & Programs

Advanced Materials Design: Electronic and Functional Applications

Characterization of Nano-to-Microscale Process-Induced Thermo-Mechanical Changes in Heterogeneously Integrated Microelectronics

3D Molecular Orientation Imaging

News & Updates

NIST Releases Trove of Genetic Data to Spur Cancer Research

New NIST reference material to support mRNA therapeutics

SRM Story: SRM 1224 Carbon Steel, AISI 1078 (disk form)

Events

Hackathon: Building Bridges for Better Self-Driving Laboratory Software

Workshop Towards an Autonomous Materials Research Ecosystem

Building a Path Forward for Meaningful Cannabis Breathalyzer Realization

Publications

Inter-tool analysis of a NIST dataset for assessing baseline nucleic acid sequence screening

Reference Correlation of the Viscosity of Argon

Improved Partition Functions and Related Thermochemical Quantities for the (16)O2 and H2(16)O Molecules

Awards

2025 - Resolve Award---Lili Wang

2025 - Letters to a Pre-Scientist Award---Sierra Miller

2025 - Federal Laboratory Consortium Impact Award---RaDAR Program

Press Coverage

The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border

Hrabe Interviewed by AmericaMakes for TCT Magazine Article on Additive Manufacturing

NIST Staff Demonstrate Low-Cost Self-Driving Lab at U.S. Senate Robotics Showcase on Capitol Hill

Blog Posts

Measure Twice, Cut Once: How Measuring Molecular ‘Scissors’ Can Further Groundbreaking Research

Speeding Up the Wheels of Justice: How NIST Resources Can Help Crime Labs Work Faster

Can Nanotechnology Help Solve Climate Change?

Contacts

GENERAL INFORMATION: 301-975-8300 (PHONE); [email protected]; 100 BUREAU DRIVE, M/S 8300, GAITHERSBURG, MD 20899-8300