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Physical Measurement Laboratory

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Spotlight: Gillian Nave and Jacob Ward

November 18, 2019

STEM is STELLAR! In November 2019, NIST’s Gillian Nave and Jacob Ward brought celebrations of Mercury’s transit (the point where Mercury passes between the

What a Switch! NIST-Led Team Develops Tiny Low-Energy Device to Rapidly Reroute Light in Computer Chips

November 14, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have developed an optical switch that routes light from one

The Half of It: Argentinian Metrologist Builds NIST-Inspired ‘Half-Angle’ Measurement System

October 30, 2019

When Jorge Campbell, an engineer from Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI), visited the National Institute of Standards and Technology

A twist and a spin: harnessing two quantum properties transforms a neutron beam into a powerful probe of material structure

October 29, 2019

By cleverly manipulating two properties of a neutron beam, NIST scientists and their collaborators have created a powerful probe of materials that have complex

JILA Team Demonstrates Model System for Distribution of More Accurate Time Signals

October 21, 2019

JILA physicists and collaborators have demonstrated the first next-generation “time scale” — a system that incorporates data from multiple atomic clocks to

NIST Goes With the (Slow) Flow: New Technique Could Improve Biotech, Precision Medicine

September 26, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an optical system that accurately measures the flow of extraordinarily

Six people stand in front of a tan building, cutting a blue ribbon

NIST Unveils New Laboratory Building for Improved National Radiation Measurements

September 24, 2019

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to unveil a

JILA’s Novel Atomic Clock Design Offers ‘Tweezer’ Control

September 12, 2019

JILA physicists have demonstrated a novel atomic clock design that combines near-continuous operation with strong signals and high stability, features not

Brighter Future for LEDs: NIST Introduces New Lamp Calibration Lab

September 3, 2019

Question: How many measurement scientists does it take to screw in an LED lightbulb? Answer: For researchers at the National Institute of Standards and

Probing the Origin of Alzheimer’s . . . with Transistors

August 7, 2019

A prime suspect in the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases is a normally benign enzyme that is essential to proper development of the nervous system

10 NIST Researchers Receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

July 25, 2019

WASHINGTON — Ten researchers from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) received the Presidential Early Career

NIST Physicists Create Record-Setting Quantum Motion

July 22, 2019

Showcasing precise control at the quantum level, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a method for making an

Man wearing clear goggles holding a yellow box in one hand and using the other hand to adjust a table of optics equipment

NIST’s Quantum Logic Clock Returns to Top Performance

July 15, 2019

The quantum logic clock—perhaps best known for showing you age faster if you stand on a stool—has climbed back to the leading performance echelons of the world

Woman with reddish hair and wearing a pink sweater and laser safety glasses reaching over an instrument table and holding a card used to path of lasers.

NIST’s Compact Atomic Gyroscope Displays New Twists

July 11, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have upgraded their compact atomic gyroscope to enable multitasking measurement

No Longer Under Pressure: NIST Dismantles Giant Mercury Manometer

June 28, 2019

Video by: Jennifer Lauren Lee/NIST. Animations: Sean Kelley/NIST. Music: Blue Dot Sessions. Photos: Bruce Johnson and Jay Hendricks/NIST For the last 30 years

NIST Presents First Real-World Test of New Smokestack Emissions Sensor Designs

June 26, 2019

In collaboration with industry, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have completed the first real-world test of a

Diagram of a flat surface with orange squares on either side and red and blue stripes in between, with a white ball hovering over a red stripe.

NIST Team Supersizes ‘Quantum Squeezing’ to Measure Ultrasmall Motion

June 20, 2019

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have harnessed the phenomenon of “quantum squeezing” to amplify and measure trillionths

A Bubbly New Way to Detect the Magnetic Fields of Nanometer-Scale Particles

June 10, 2019

As if they were bubbles expanding in a just-opened bottle of champagne, tiny circular regions of magnetism can be rapidly enlarged to provide a precise method

Table covered with lenses and other optical equipment, and a flat screen mounted high in the background showing a yellow squiggly line across the top and a spiky orange line below.

NIST Infrared Frequency Comb Measures Biological Signatures

June 7, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and collaborators have demonstrated a compact frequency-comb apparatus that rapidly

NIST Physicists ‘Teleport’ Logic Operation Between Separated Ions

May 30, 2019

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have teleported a computer circuit instruction known as a quantum logic operation

Square gray cube with two square holes in it and a gold square in between the holes, and a dark brown coffee bean leaning against the cube.

NIST Team Demonstrates Heart of Next-Generation Chip-Scale Atomic Clock

May 17, 2019

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and partners have demonstrated an experimental, next-generation atomic clock—ticking at

JQI Researchers Shed New Light on Atomic ‘Wave Function’

May 16, 2019

Physicists have demonstrated a new way to obtain the essential details that describe an isolated quantum system, such as a gas of atoms, through direct

Precise Temperature Measurements with Invisible Light

May 6, 2019

Ordinarily, you won’t encounter a radiation thermometer until somebody puts one in your ear at the doctor’s office or you point one at your forehead when you’re

Sculpting Super-Fast Light Pulses: NIST Nanopillars Shape Light Precisely for Practical Applications

May 2, 2019

Imagine being able to shape a pulse of light in any conceivable manner—compressing it, stretching it, splitting it in two, changing its intensity or altering

NIST Research Sparks New Insights on Laser Welding

April 30, 2019

On its surface, the work is deceptively simple: Shoot a high-power laser beam onto a piece of metal for a fraction of a second and see what happens. But

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