Nanophysics

News and Updates

With Some Bumps, NIST Scientists Devise a Novel Way to Extend the Wavelength Range of Microcombs

June 5, 2024

Microcombs – chip-scale devices that generate and measure frequencies of light with exquisite accuracy – have transformed timekeeping and boosted optical

NIST Researchers Help Design a Prototype Quantum Computer

December 20, 2023

Researchers have created a prototype quantum computer with a record number of qubits—the analog of bits in an ordinary computer—capable of performing logical

Do the Bump: NIST Scientists Perfect Miniaturized Technique to Generate Precise Wavelengths of Visible Laser Light

November 28, 2023

In research, sometimes the bumpy path proves to be the best one. By creating tiny, periodic bumps in a miniature racetrack for light, researchers at the

Events

Artificial Intelligence for Materials Science (AIMS) Workshop

Wed, Jul 9 - Thu, Jul 10 2025

As part of the JARVIS workshop series, the 6th Artificial Intelligence for Materials Science (AIMS) workshop will be

Projects and Programs

Nanoscale Spectroscopy for Advanced Electronics, Quantum Materials and Devices

Ongoing

Semiconductor technologies are critical to U.S. economic and national security as they are essential to modern life in communications, healthcare, energy, etc. and also underpin many emerging technologies like quantum, artificial intelligence, high power electronics and advanced wireless (6G+). The

Schematic showing DNA origami in a laser beam

DNA Origami for Precise Manufacturing of Nanoscale Structures

Completed

The base pairing of adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine to form DNA provides a robust molecular recognition scheme that can be used to create a wide variety of well-ordered nanostructures. DNA origami, which uses a long scaffold strand folded together by specific sets of short staple strands

Modeling and Simulation of Nanofabrication (Archived)

Completed

While self-assembly is still in its relative infancy with respect to practical use, with much additional research required to reach maturity, the more widely utilized top-down methods will continue to require advances and modifications to improve current nanomanufacturing techniques. This modeling

Probing Graphene Electronic Devices with Atomic Scale Measurements

Ongoing

Two of the remarkable features of graphene that are opening avenues to multiple applications are its high transport carrier mobility and the broad tunability of its electronic properties. Graphene charge carriers can be tuned continuously from negative carriers (i.e., electrons), to positive (holes)

Publications

Materials Discovery in Combinatorial and High-throughput Synthesis and Processing: A New Frontier for SPM

January 5, 2025

Author(s)

Boris Slautin, Yungtao Liu, Yu Liu, Reece Emery, Seungbum Hong, Astita Dubey, Vladimir Shvartsman, Doru Lupascu, Sheryl Sanchez, Mahshid Ahmadi, Yunseok Kim, Evgheni Strelcov, Keith Brown, Philip Rack, Sergei Kalinin

For over three decades, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has been a key method for exploring material structures and functionalities at nanometer and often

Nagaoka ferromagnetism in 3 × 3 arrays and beyond

December 26, 2024

Author(s)

Yan Li, Keyi Liu, Garnett Bryant

Nagaoka ferromagnetism (NF) is a long-predicted example of itinerant ferromagnetism (IF) in the Hubbard model that has been studied theoretically for many years

Fermi-Level Pinning in ErAs Nanoparticles Embedded in III–V Semiconductors

April 9, 2024

Author(s)

Garnett W. Bryant, Ruiqi Hu, Dai Ho, Quang To, Anderson Janotti

Embedding rare-earth pnictide (RE-V) nanoparticles into III-V semiconductors enables unique optical, electrical, and thermal properties, with applications in

Metrology for 2D materials: a perspective review from the international roadmap for devices and systems

April 8, 2024

Author(s)

Albert Davydov, Yaw S. Obeng, Ndubuisi George Orji, Umberto Celano, Daniel Schmidt, Carlos Beitia

The international roadmap of devices and systems (IRDS) projects that 2D materials will be inserted into high-volume manufacturing as channel materials, mostly

Tools and Instruments

NIST PTIR Instrumentation and Capabilities

Photothermal induced resonance (PTIR) combines the spatial resolution of atomic force microscopy (AFM) with the specificity of absorption spectroscopy

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