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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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Coming Soon: A Calibration Facility for Micro-Flows

May 27, 2015

Many medical treatments both new and old involve extremely small doses of powerful drugs in liquid form – from scorpion venom for cancer research to opioid...

New Chip Defect-finding Scheme Attracts Industry Leaders

May 27, 2015

Until recently, the semiconductor industry had a go-to method for quantifying atomic-scale defects in the billions of transistors contained in a single computer...

Under Construction: Traceable Dynamic Pressure Standard

May 19, 2015

In recent years, the physical damage done by pressure waves – such as traumatic brain injuries from explosives sustained by military personnel in the Middle...

What is Quantum Physics? Dancers Explain

May 15, 2015

Quantum physics drives much of the research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Explaining this research is a challenge, because...

NIST-led Research Group Creates First Whispering Gallery for Graphene Electrons

May 8, 2015

GAITHERSBURG, MD--An international research group led by scientists at the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has...

Two NIST Experts Named Service to America Medal Finalists

May 6, 2015

Two National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have been named finalists for 2015 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, which...

Photonic Thermometers: Out of the Lab, Into a Bucket of Water

April 28, 2015

A new class of tiny chip-based thermometers being developed by PML's Sensor Science Division has the potential to revolutionize the way temperature is gauged...

Detecting Effects of 3D Shapes in Nanoscale Chip Features

April 27, 2015

As microchip feature dimensions approach atomic scale, it becomes formidably difficult to measure their size and shape. According to the International...

Why Firefighters Get Steam Burns: Exploratory Study Underway

April 27, 2015

A mystery has raged for decades surrounding accounts of firefighters who receive steam burns through their protective clothing. One ruling theory is that the...

Nanoelectronics Conference Focuses on Future of Semiconductor Manufacturing

April 22, 2015

The characterization technology needed for nanoelectronic materials and device research, development, and manufacturing was discussed by experts from industry...

'Standing Room Only' for PML's Hands-On Dimensional Metrology Workshop

April 22, 2015

Earlier this month, PML's Dimensional Metrology Group hosted a three-day hands-on training event for 13 industry and government attendees. The class was given...

Getting Better All the Time: JILA Strontium Atomic Clock Sets New Records

April 21, 2015

In another advance at the far frontiers of timekeeping by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers, the latest modification of a record...

It's a Trap! But That's Okay for Novel Light-Detecting Material

April 17, 2015

Traps. Whether you're squaring off against the Empire or trying to wring electricity out of sunlight, they're almost never a good thing. But sometimes you can...

NIST Technique Can Measure Volumes of Key 'Lab on a Chip' Components

April 17, 2015

Imagine shrinking tubes and beakers—in fact, most of a clinical chemistry lab—down to the size of a credit card. When engineers figured out how to do that two...

NIST Tightens the Bounds on the Quantum Information 'Speed Limit'

April 14, 2015

If you're designing a new computer, you want it to solve problems as fast as possible. Just how fast is possible is an open question when it comes to quantum...

Mind the Gap: Nanoscale Speed Bump Could Regulate Plasmons for High-Speed Data Flow

April 1, 2015

The name sounds like something Marvin the Martian might have built, but the "nanomechanical plasmonic phase modulator" is not a doomsday device. Developed by a...

Precocious GEM: Shape-Shifting Sensor Can Report Conditions from Deep in the Body

March 27, 2015

Scientists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have devised and demonstrated a new...

A fired cartridge case and a fired bullet.

PML Helps Lead Standardization for Firearm and Toolmark Examinations

March 24, 2015

Xiaoyu Alan Zheng and Ted Vorburger of PML's Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division were appointed to the Organization of Scientific Area Committees'...

Getting a Critical Edge on Plutonium Identification

March 23, 2015

A collaboration between NIST scientists and colleagues at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has resulted in a new kind of sensor that can be used to...

Lack of Effective Timing Signals Could Hamper 'Internet of Things' Development

March 19, 2015

Our fast-approaching future of driverless cars and "smart" electrical grids will depend on billions of linked devices making decisions and communicating with...

NIST's MRI Measurement Tools to Help Diagnose Veterans' Traumatic Brain Injuries

March 17, 2015

More than 300,000 U.S. veterans have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in recent years, a legacy of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But these...

NIST Gets New Angle on X-Ray Measurements

March 9, 2015

Criminal justice, cosmology and computer manufacturing may not look to have much in common, but these and many other disparate fields all depend on sensitive...

Novel Neutron Detector Makes Scintillating Debut

March 9, 2015

A team of researchers has successfully demonstrated a new design concept for a neutron detector that does not rely – as nearly all current models do – on a...

New Imaging Technique Finds Formation of Aluminum Alloys to Blame for Next-Gen Battery Failures

March 3, 2015

Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Maryland, and Sandia National Laboratories, have for the...

Double Vision: New NIST Technique Can See Nanoscale 'Tree' and Microscale 'Forest' Simultaneously

March 3, 2015

A close-up view of an individual tree won't tell you much about what's going on in the forest, or even what's going on in the tree's upper branches. The same...

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