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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Computing with Single Atoms

November 26, 2014

As features on silicon microchips continue to shrink, the final frontier of miniaturization is a transistor on the scale of a single atom – a technology that...

Five NIST Scientists Win APS Awards

November 25, 2014

Five scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have won major awards from the American Physical Society, the nation's largest...

Tiny Magnetic Sensor Deemed Attractive

November 24, 2014

Ultra-sensitive magnetic sensor technology pioneered at PML may soon be commercialized for a host of applications from detection of unexploded bombs and...

Gauging the Hue of the Sea

November 24, 2014

The world's oceans face multiple threats, and fisheries, marine biologists, and environmental scientists need accurate and timely data about changing conditions...

Earth Science: Seeing the Surface Clearly

November 24, 2014

Satellite observation has revolutionized our understanding of terrestrial conditions and climate dynamics. But the measurement science is extremely demanding...

Protecting Vacuum Gauges: Patent Pending

November 21, 2014

PML researchers have applied for a provisional patent on a device to protect expensive "spinning-rotor" high-vacuum gauges – used as transfer standards and...

UMD and NIST Announce the Creation of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science

October 31, 2014

The University of Maryland (UMD) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today the creation of the...

Photo illustration of NIST experiment using a pair of laser frequency combs

NIST 'Combs' the Atmosphere to Measure Greenhouse Gases

October 29, 2014

By remotely "combing" the atmosphere with a custom laser-based instrument, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in...

World's First Photonic Pressure Sensor Outshines Traditional Mercury Standard

October 29, 2014

For almost 400 years, mercury gauges have prevailed as the most accurate way to measure pressure. Now, within weeks of seeing "first light," a novel pressure...

Paul Williams and Joshua Hadler operating the NIST calibration service for high-power lasers.

NIST Launches New Calibration Service for High-Power Lasers

October 29, 2014

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a new calibration service for high-power lasers of the sort used by manufacturers for...

Building Better Body Armor: PML Provides Standards for US Army

October 28, 2014

NIST's Dimensional Metrology Group (DMG) in PML's Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division is in the final stages of completing a three-phase task for...

Trouble with a Capital 'G'

October 27, 2014

NIST has taken part in a new push to address a persistent and growing problem in physics: the value of G. The Newtonian constant of gravitation, used to...

New High-Resolution X-ray Spectrometer for Beam Lines

October 24, 2014

NIST scientists have pioneered a technology that may speed the arrival of long-awaited materials and devices including advanced high-temperature superconductors...

Better Diagnostic Imaging for Traumatic Brain Injuries

October 23, 2014

Image-calibration technology designed and developed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in collaboration with the...

James Olthoff Named Director of NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory

October 15, 2014

James Olthoff, a 27-year veteran of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has been named director of the agency's Physical Measurement...

NIST Laser Comb System Maps 3D Surfaces Remotely for Manufacturing, Forensics

October 7, 2014

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a laser-based imaging system that creates high-definition 3D maps of...

Introducing the League of SI Superheroes: The New Champions of Metric

October 6, 2014

To celebrate Metric Week (Oct. 5-11), the National Institute of Standards and Technology would like to introduce you to the League of SI Superheroes. The League...

Simultaneous Imaging of Ferromagnetic and Ferroelectric Domains

October 1, 2014

An international team led by researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology have discovered a new way to simultaneously image both the...

Photons by the Numbers

September 25, 2014

A NIST team is at work on what promises to be one of the world's most accurate methods for generating a specified number of photons, and has devised a method to...

Calibrating Cancer Radiotherapy Beams Using Light and Sound

September 17, 2014

Doctors shrink tumors with radiation therapy, but a badly calibrated beam can cause serious complications. Scientists in NIST's Radiation Physics Division in...

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