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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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Hidden Uncertainties Uncovered in Nuclear Forensic Measurement

February 2, 2015

A little detective work by nuclear physicists has uncovered hidden uncertainties in a popular method for precisely measuring radioactive nuclides, often used to...

Restoration Begins on NIST's Million-Pound Deadweight Machine

January 27, 2015

For the first time in half a century, NIST's 4.45-million newton (equivalent to one million pounds-force) deadweight machine – the largest in the world – is...

Prototype for First Traceable PET-MR Phantom

January 23, 2015

As cancer diagnostic tools, a new class of imagers – which combines positron-emission tomography (PET) with magnetic resonance imaging (MR or MRI) – has shown...

Open-Source Software for Quantum Information

January 23, 2015

NIST has partnered with the private sector to develop the next-generation open-source control software for quantum information systems. NIST is a world leader...

Hybrid Memory Device for Superconducting Computing

January 23, 2015

A team of NIST scientists has devised and demonstrated a novel nanoscale memory technology for superconducting computing that could hasten the advent of an...

New Portable Vacuum Standard

January 23, 2015

A novel Portable Vacuum Standard (PVS) has been added to the roster of NIST's Standard Reference Instruments (SRI). It is now available for purchase as part of...

Weighing Gas with Sound and Microwaves

January 23, 2015

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a novel method to rapidly and accurately calibrate gas flow meters, such...

PML Scientists Discover a Better Metal Contact that Improves Two-Dimensional Transistor Performance

January 16, 2015

Two-dimensional (2D) materials* such as molybdenum-disulfide (MoS 2) are attracting much attention for future electronic and photonic applications ranging from...

NIST Contributes to Media's Top Science Stories of 2014

January 7, 2015

Cool instruments—literally—made by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) contributed to the media's top science stories of 2014. More than a...

Set up for X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy with Graphene Windows

Graphene Offers X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy a Window of Opportunity

December 22, 2014

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is one of the most sensitive and informative surface analysis techniques available. However, XPS requires a high vacuum...

NIST Sensor Could Improve One of Nano Research's Most Useful Microscopes

December 16, 2014

Spotting molecule-sized features—common in computer circuits and nanoscale devices—may become both easier and more accurate with a sensor developed at the...

Ultrasonic Thermometers for Medical Dosimetry

December 16, 2014

PML researchers are exploring whether ultrasound can be used as a faster, more efficient way to take three-dimensional images of radiation dose profiles in...

Lighting the Path to Smaller, Tougher Thermometers

December 15, 2014

Two new prototypes for tiny chip-based thermometers are illuminating light's potential to revolutionize the way temperature is gauged. With further development...

NIST Helps NTSB Solve 787 Battery Fire Puzzle

December 10, 2014

In January, 2013, an auxiliary power unit battery aboard a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" experienced a "thermal runaway event" resulting in fire and...

iNEMI Board of Directors Visits NIST

December 10, 2014

NIST hosted the Board of Directors of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, for a half-day overview on...

NIST Enables Precision Time-stamping of Financial Transactions

December 10, 2014

NASDAQ, a leading stock exchange for technology markets, has announced the launch of a precision time-stamping service for tens of billions of dollars of...

PML Outreach Promotes STEM Excitement

December 10, 2014

Michael Postek of PML's Semiconductor & Dimensional Metrology Division has been an instrumental part of an outreach to bring access to tabletop scanning...

Transmission electron microscopy image of a thin cross section of 160 nanometer trenches shows deposited nickel completely filling the features without voids.

NIST-Intel Partnership Workshop

December 3, 2014

In November, 2014, NIST hosted the seventh in a series of workshops in a NIST-Intel partnership effort on Emerging Nanoscale Interface and Architecture...

NIST Fires Up Extended Calibration Service for Laser Welding and More

December 2, 2014

NIST PML's Sources and Detectors Group has launched a new multikilowatt laser power measurement service capability for high-power lasers of the sort used by...

Low Error-Rate Detector System for Telecommunications

December 2, 2014

NIST scientists have devised an experimental photon-detection system for communications with error rates far below even the most ideal conventional designs...

Uniform Nanowire Arrays for Science and Manufacturing

December 2, 2014

Defect-free nanowires with diameters in the range of 100 nanometers (nm) hold significant promise for numerous in-demand applications including printable...

Thin, Strong Bond for Vacuum Seal

December 2, 2014

An ultra-stable, ultra-thin bonding technology has been adapted by researchers in PML's Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division for use as a super...

Better Cargo Inspection Standards at Border Crossings

December 2, 2014

As part of an Interagency Agreement between NIST and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), PML's Radiation Physics Division recently completed a series of...

Taking the Wraps off NISTAR

December 2, 2014

The NIST Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR), mothballed for more than a decade, is slated to make its space debut very soon about 1.5 million kilometers sunward of...

Researchers Take First Pictures of Baby Nanotubes

December 1, 2014

Single-walled carbon nanotubes are loaded with desirable properties. In particular, the ability to conduct electricity at high rates of speed makes them...

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