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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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New Explanation for Key Step in Anthrax Infection Proposed by NIST and USAMRIID

August 20, 2013

A new hypothesis concerning a crucial step in the anthrax infection process has been advanced by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and...

Image output from a 3D laser scanning measurement system.

Collaboration with Industry Leads to Improved Forensics Work and Industry Growth

August 20, 2013

Three-dimensional (3D) scanners used at crime scenes for forensic investigations are not just the stuff of prime time television. Investigators and crime...

Spraying Mosquitoes . . . with Gamma Rays

August 16, 2013

A recently announced malaria vaccine – found to be 100 % effective in a small human sample – was years in the making, and its creators had to overcome many...

Yuqin Zong with LED timetime test enclosure

LEDs Get a Life Sentence

August 15, 2013

The light-emitting diode (LED) appears on track to become the light of our lives. Switching to bright, energy-efficient, durable, and environmentally friendly...

JILA Researchers Discover Atomic Clock Can Simulate Quantum Magnetism

August 8, 2013

Researchers at JILA have for the first time used an atomic clock as a quantum simulator, mimicking the behavior of a different, more complex quantum system...

The Persistence of Memory: Looking into MRAM

August 5, 2013

Many in the electronics industry want to change how memories are made. So PML scientists are exploring the physics and developing the metrology required to do...

A Step Towards Energy-Efficient Voltage Control of Magnetic Devices

July 30, 2013

Researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the University of California, Berkeley have discovered a way to create simultaneous...

New NIST Standard Reference Material to Help Calibrate Hospital CAT Scanners

July 23, 2013

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new standard reference material (SRM), the first such measurement tool...

Schematic showing association of two duplex precursors into a quadruplex fiber building block. Bottom: AFM image of quadruplex DNA nanofibers.

Stiffening the Backbone of DNA Nanofibers

July 23, 2013

An international collaboration including researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito...

New Nanoscale Imaging Method Finds Application in Plasmonics

July 16, 2013

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have shown how to make nanoscale measurements of...

NIST Chip Measurement Advance Earns 'Oscar of Innovation'

July 12, 2013

A fundamental advance in measurement capabilities that could save semiconductor manufacturers billions of dollars annually has earned a 2013 R&D 100 Award for...

NIST Shows How to Make a Compact Frequency Comb in Minutes

July 11, 2013

Laser frequency combs—high-precision tools for measuring different colors of light in an ever-growing range of applications such as advanced atomic clocks...

Making the Case for History

July 1, 2013

The original Declaration of Independence on display at the National Archives reaches its 237th anniversary this year protected by NIST science and engineering...

CNST News Spring/Summer 2013 cover - web

CNST Releases the Spring/Summer 2013 Edition of The CNST News

July 1, 2013

The NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) is pleased to announce the release of the Winter 2013 edition of The CNST News. This quarterly...

New Photon Detector for Advanced Communications Knows When to Not Know

June 26, 2013

In some standardized tests, the graders add in a penalty factor for wrong answers to discourage students from randomly guessing. It turns out that there's a...

Promoting Nanomaterial Manufacturing by Characterizing and Minimizing Environmental Risks

June 26, 2013

While nanomaterials have led to major advances in key U.S. industries, especially the semiconductor industry, their technological promises and possibilities are...

Time to Celebrate: NIST Radio Station WWVB Logs 50 Years of Innovation

June 25, 2013

Fifty years ago on July 5, 1963, a modest radio station in Fort Collins, Colo., officially went on the airwaves—a landmark event for U.S. industry and the...

High-Efficiency Photon Source Brings Day of Reckoning Closer for a Famous Quantum Test

June 25, 2013

Physicists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) are edging ever closer to getting really...

Microscopy Technique Could Help Computer Industry Develop 3-D Components

June 25, 2013

A technique developed several years ago at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for improving optical microscopes now has been applied to...

MRI Phantoms: Moving to the Next Stage

June 21, 2013

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an indispensable tool for diagnosing, treating, and understanding a host of medical conditions, and the technology...

Instructors perform measurements during dry run of Fundamentals of Metrology course

NIST Office of Weights and Measures Receives Important 'Continuing Education' Accreditation

June 20, 2013

The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Office of...

New AC Voltage Devices: Factor of Three Improvement in Uncertainty

June 18, 2013

After years of effort and scores of iterations, PML researchers have developed a new generation of devices that can reduce the uncertainties in ac voltage...

Illustration of a new microscopy technique that works by scanning a beam of electrons over a sample that has been coated with specially engineered quantum dots.

New Quantum Dot Technique Combines Best of Optical and Electron Microscopy

June 12, 2013

It's not reruns of "The Jetsons", but researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new microscopy technique...

First Observation of Spin Hall Effect in a Quantum Gas Is Step Toward 'Atomtronics'

June 5, 2013

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have reported the first observation of the "spin Hall effect" in a Bose-Einstein...

Luggage Screening Standards Prove Their Value

June 5, 2013

Every month, between 50 and 70 million passengers travel through U.S. airports, toting more than 30 million pieces of luggage destined for aircraft cargo holds...

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