Materials characterization

News and Updates

Chip Circuit for Light Could Be Applied to Quantum Computations

January 3, 2023

The ability to transmit and manipulate the smallest unit of light, the photon, with minimal loss, plays a pivotal role in optical communications as well as

Molecules Have an Orientation, and Scientists Have a New Way to Measure It

December 8, 2022

Molecular orientation is key to designing better materials.

Black and white micrograph shows tiny white panels standing parallel to form small squares on a dark background.

Spotlight: Zebra-Striped Structures to Twist Neutrons and Extend Researchers’ Vision

November 22, 2022

What are these microscopic zebra-striped squares, and why did scientists painstakingly arrange more than 6 million of them on a silicon plate just half a

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

Femtosecond Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy of Nanoscale Materials

Ongoing

Condensed matter dynamics can evolve on a subpicosecond timescale, too fast to follow using many characterization techniques. We use femtosecond optical pulses

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

Publications

Experimental Spectroscopic Data of SnO2 Films and Powder

February 10, 2023

Author(s)

Hawazin Alghamdi, Olasunbo Farinre, Mathew Kelley, Adam Biacchi, Dipanjan Saha, Tehseen Adel, Kerry Siebein, Angela R. Hight Walker, Christina Hacker, Albert Rigosi, Prabhakar Misra

X-ray absorption fine structure characterization of a multicomponent spinel catalyst

January 12, 2023

Author(s)

Evan Jahrman, Kimber L. Stamm Masias, Torin C. Peck, Charles A. Roberts

Demand for high-performing, inexpensive catalysts has motivated the development of mixed 3d transition metal architectures. Here, X-ray spectroscopies are

Micro- and Nanoscale Surface Analysis of Late Iron Age Glass from Broborg, a Vitrified Swedish Hillfort

January 11, 2023

Author(s)

Jamie Weaver, Bethany Matthews, James Neeway, Lorena Nava Farias, Jose Marcial, Bruce Arey, Jennifer Soltis, LiBor Kovarik, Michael Schweiger, Nathan Canfield, Tamas Varga, Mark Bowden, John McCloy, Eva Hjärthner-Holdar, Rolf Sjoblom, Mia Englund, Erik Ogenhall, Edward Vicenzi, Claire Corkhill, Clare Thorpe, Russell Hand, David Peeler, Carolyn Pearce, Albert Kruger

Archaeological glasses with prolonged exposure to biogeochemical processes in the environment can be used to understand glass alteration, which is important for

Field-Deployable Devices

January 1, 2023

Author(s)

Thomas P. Forbes, Raychelle Burks

Reductions in instrument size, weight, and power continue to facilitate the development and application of field-deployable devices for investigative purposes

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

hotograph of the custom high temperature (>300 K) scanning instrument that measures electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient

High Throughput (Combinatorial) Screening Tool for Characterization of Thin Film Thermoelectrics as a Function Temperature

Description High-throughput (combinatorial) metrologies have evolved as a useful approach to rapidly determine the composition-structure-property relationships

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

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

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