Materials characterization

News and Updates

NIST researcher Jared Strait with a prototype hand-held KDFR

MEASURING UP: Kibble Dynamic Force Reference

July 18, 2023

Static force, such as the weight of a person standing motionless on a bathroom scale or the force that an office full of equipment exerts on a high-rise floor

Diagram shows microprojectile as a small ball moving upward through a square of polymer film with camera to the right.

New Laser-Based Method Could Help Scientists Discover New Puncture-Resistant Materials

July 3, 2023

Using tiny laser-launched projectiles and troves of data, scientists can more quickly bridge the gap between a material’s microscopic properties and its real

A large hydraulic press machine with vertical columns stands on a platform behind tanks labeled "Nitrogen."

Spotlight: Putting Steel to the Test Under Cryogenic Temperatures

May 24, 2023

How NIST researchers measure the fatigue of high-performance steels used for transporting and storing cryogenic liquids.

Events

Quantum Matters in Materials Science Workshop

Wed, Feb 21 - Thu, Feb 22 2024

As a part of the JARVIS workshops series, NIST is organizing the 3rd Quantum Matters in Materials Science (QMMS)

Projects and Programs

X-ray Testbed for Breakthrough Catalyst Measurements

Ongoing

NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory and Physical Measurement Laboratory are developing a first-of-kind X-ray testbed for operando monitoring of catalytic

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

Neuromorphic Device Measurements

Ongoing

Neuromorphic computing is a radical new approach to information processing for artificial intelligence where, instead of using digital electronics, inspiration

Publications

A High Throughput Aqueous Passivation Testing Methodology for Compositionally Complex Alloys using Scanning Droplet Cell

August 29, 2023

Author(s)

Debashish Sur, Jason Hattrick-Simpers, Howie Joress, John Scully

Compositionally complex alloys containing four or more principal elements provide an opportunity to explore a wide range of compositions, processing, and

Structural Origin of Recovered Ferroelectricity in BaTiO3 Nanoparticles

August 24, 2023

Author(s)

Bruce D. Ravel, Trevor Tyson, Han Zhang, Sizhan Liu, SANJIT GHOSE, U.J. Idehenre, Yury Barnakov, S.A. Basun, D.R. Evans

Nanoscale BaTiO3 particles (10 nm) prepared by ball-milling a mixture of oleic acid and heptane have been reported to have an electric polarization several

Mid-Infrared, Near-Infrared, and Visible Nanospectroscopy of Hydrogen-Intercalated MoO3

August 21, 2023

Author(s)

Jeffrey Schwartz, Sergiy Krylyuk, Devon Jakob, Albert Davydov, Andrea Centrone

Control over the local chemical composition and spatial heterogeneities in nanomaterials provides a means to impart new functions and to tailor their properties

Investigation of Cure Kinetics of Advanced Epoxy Molding Compound Using Dynamic Heating Scan: An Overlooked Second Reaction

August 3, 2023

Author(s)

Ran Tao, Sukrut Prashant Phansalkar, Aaron M. Forster, Bongtae Han

Cure kinetics of epoxy molding compounds (EMCs) is a fundamental material property that affects the molding process of semiconductor chips and final package

Software

NIST DTSA-II

March 10, 2023

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

Atom Probe Tomography (LEAP 4000X Si/HR – Local Electrode Atom Probe)

LEAP 4000X Si/HR Imaging time-of-flight mass spectrometer and field ion microscope. Can deliver 3-D, isotopically- and chemically- resolved images Sub-nanometer

Hysitron PI-85 Picoindentor

This in-situ indentation system can be integrated into electron microscopes as well as being run in other unusual setups. With a load capacity of 150 mN, this

TESCAN MIRA3 for automated electron microscopy

A TESCAN MIRA3 Schottky field-emission scanning electron microscope with 4 30 mm 2 silicon x-ray drift detectors which has been automated for particle and

Microcalorimeter Detector

The NIST transition edge sensor microcalorimeter is energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer capable of ~5 eV resolution over a range of energies from hundreds to

Materials characterization