Materials characterization

News and Updates

Measuring Up: The Phantom of the Library

May 4, 2022

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized medical diagnostics and research by providing a non-invasive way to investigate internal tissue structures

Ultraviolet Light Can Clean N95 Masks for Reuse Without Hindering Performance, NIST Study Shows

March 25, 2022

To combat COVID-19 amid supply shortages in 2020, health care facilities across the U.S. resorted to disinfecting personal protective equipment (PPE), such as

NIST Researchers Resurrect and Improve a Technique for Detecting Transistor Defects

February 3, 2022

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have revived and improved a once-reliable technique to identify and count defects in

Projects and Programs

Measuring Intermolecular Interactions with Electro-Acoustic Spectroscopy

Ongoing

NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory and Communications Technology Laboratory are developing a new spectroscopy for intermolecular interactions. The team is

Microplastic and Nanoplastic Metrology

Ongoing

The mission of the Micro and Nanoplastic (MNP) Metrology Project is to assist regulators in assessing the human health and environmental risks associated with

Optical and Optoelectronic Materials Characterization

Ongoing

This project aims to develop rigorous measurements and methodology needed for determining optical and electrical properties of advanced materials that might be

PTIR combines the spatial resolution of AFM with the specificity of absorption spectroscopy

Nano-Chemical Imaging and -Spectroscopy (IR, nIR, VIS)

Ongoing

Conventional techniques for analyzing chemical composition, such as infrared (IR) microscopy often miss critically important nanoscale details. To overcome this

Publications

Core-shell and Egg-shell Zeolite Catalysts for Enhanced Hydrocarbon Processing

April 25, 2022

Author(s)

Thuy Tran Le, Kumari Shilpa, Choongsze Lee, Sungmin Han, Conan Weiland, Simon Bare, Paul Dauenhauer, Jeffrey Rimer

Developing structure-performance relationships with the underlying goal of optimizing known zeolite catalysts involves the manipulation of their physicochemical

Learning Atom Probe Tomography time-of-flight peaks for mass-to-charge ratio spectrometry

April 2, 2022

Author(s)

Kevin J. Coakley, Norman A. Sanford

In laser-assisted atom probe tomography, an important goal is to reconstruct the mass-to-charge ratio, (m/z), spectrum due to various ion species. In general

Three-Dimensional Molecular Orientation Imaging of a Semicrystalline Polymer Film under Shear Deformation

March 31, 2022

Author(s)

Young Jong Lee, Shuyu Xu, Chad R. Snyder, Jeremy Rowlette

The 3D molecular orientations of polymer chains are imaged and compared for a quiescent spherulite region and a shear deformed region of a semicrystalline poly

Models for an Ultraviolet-C Research and Development Consortium

March 25, 2022

Author(s)

Dianne L. Poster, C Cameron Miller, Yaw S. Obeng, John J. Kasianowicz, Michael T. Postek, Norman Horn, Troy Cowan, Richard Martinello

The development of an international, precompetitive, collaborative, ultraviolet (UV) research consortium is discussed as an opportunity to lay the groundwork

Software

NIST DTSA-II

February 1, 2018

NIST DTSA-II builds on the best available algorithms in the literature to simulate, quantify and plan energy dispersive x-ray analysis measurements.

Custom Lifetime Imaging Platform (CLIP)

CLIP is an analysis program for fluorescence lifetime images. It provides the user with the ability to fit or calculate the phasor plots for lifetime decays

Tools and Instruments

Rubber Process Analyzer

The TA Instruments RPA elite rubber process analyzer (RPA) is a strain-controlled rotational shear rheometer for the characterization of polymers, composites

Focused Ion Beam (Helios 660)

The Helios 660 NanoLab(HNL660) is a Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with spectroscopic detectors to allow elemental and phase

Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope

FEI Company, Model Quanta 200 F Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

Focused Ion Beam

The Nova NanoLab 600 (NNL600) is a Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with spectroscopic detectors to allow elemental and phase measurements

Materials characterization