Nanomaterials

News and Updates

Inspired by Prehistoric Creatures, NIST Researchers Make Record-Setting Lenses

April 19, 2022

Five hundred million years ago, the oceans teemed with trillions of trilobites — creatures that were distant cousins of horseshoe crabs. All trilobites had a

Scientists Greatly Expand the Frequencies Generated by a Miniature Optical Ruler

February 23, 2022

Like a vocal coach who extends the octave range of an opera singer, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have expanded by

Hybrid Optical Device Captures Light for Longer Periods of Time in a Tiny Region

February 9, 2022

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have significantly improved the ability of a type of optical

Projects and Programs

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

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

Video microscopic image - Rotation and translation.

Control of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Nanoscale Manipulation of Fluids and Materials (Archived)

Completed

Scientists and engineers currently have a growing library of synthetic microscale and nanoscale swimmers which affect the hydrodynamics of their surroundings in

Templated Assembly of Block Copolymer Films

Completed

Our goal is to develop critical measurement solutions that enable nanomanufacturing with template guided block copolymer assembly for next generation magnetic

Publications

Characterizations of two-dimensional materials with cryogenic ultrahigh vacuum near-field optical microscopy in the visible range

May 17, 2022

Author(s)

Jeremy Schultz, Nan Jiang

The development of new characterization methods has resulted in innovative studies of the properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials. Observations of

Polyoxovanadates as Precursors for the Synthesis of Colloidal Multi-Metal Oxide Nanocrystals

March 31, 2022

Author(s)

Adam Biacchi, Lucas Johnson, Ashley Sweet, Eric Cal, Angela R. Hight Walker, Matthew Buck, Luke Barrante

Colloidal multi-metal oxide nanocrystals that contain the element vanadium are attractive materials for enabling diverse technologies. Few nanocrystal systems

Micro to nano: multiscale IR analyses reveal zinc soap heterogeneity in a 19th-century painting by Corot

February 9, 2022

Author(s)

Xiao Ma, Georges Pavlidis, Eoghan Dillon, Victoria Beltran, Jeffrey Schwartz, Mathieu Thoury, Ferenc Borondics, Christophe Sandt, Kevin Kjoller, Barbara Berrie, Andrea Centrone

The formation and aggregation of metal carboxylates (metal-soaps) can degrade the appearance and integrity of oil paints and frequently poses a challenge to the

Thermodynamically stable colloidal solids: interfacial thermodynamics from the particle size distribution

February 3, 2022

Author(s)

Andrew Nelson, Lawrence Henry Friedman

True thermodynamic stability of a solid colloidal dispersion is generally unexpected, so much so that a thorough experimental validation of proposed stable

Software

HolograFREE

An electron hologram is a fringe modulated image containing the amplitude and phase information of an electron transparent object. The HolograFREE routines

Tools and Instruments

Raman facility

Raman scattering is a powerful light scattering technique used to diagnose the internal structure of molecules and crystals. In a light scattering experiment

Dual Beam Focused Ion Beam / Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM)

Dual beam focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope (FESEM). Focused ion beam using Ga atoms allows the patterning of objects at ~10 nm level (milling and

Local Electrode Atom Probe Tomography (LEAP)

Field evaporates (with a voltage and laser pulse) a sharp tip-shaped specimen. Collects the ionization products in a position-sensitive, time-of-flight mass

Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

Probe corrected 200kV analytic electron microscope Resolves single atoms Chemical analytic capability (EELS, EDS) Highest resolution in electron optics (<0.1 nm

Awards

Vincent Hackley Honored by ASTM

In recognition of consistent dedication and outstanding service to ASTM Committee E56 on Nanotechnology since the committee’s inception in

Elijah Petersen Honored with PECASE

For pioneering measurement methods of nanomaterials toxicity that now underpin industry and public sector assessments of the environmental