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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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PML Goes to Mars: Far-Out Thermal Calibration

August 29, 2012

Sometimes the chain of measurement traceability – the unbroken series of links between a calibrated instrument and the official NIST standard – can get pretty

Disseminating the Kilogram, No Strings Attached

August 24, 2012

The impending redefinition of the kilogram presents a weighty dilemma. Methods to be used to realize the redefined kilogram are based on the Planck constant and

PML Uses Combined Optical Techniques to Provide Important Answers on Graphene Structures

August 13, 2012

That graphene is the hot new material in the world of future electronics manufacturing is well known. With its high carrier mobility and low noise, graphene is

A microfluidic lab on a chip device sitting on a polystyrene dish.

NIST Focuses on Testing Standards to Support Lab on a Chip Commercialization

August 8, 2012

Lab on a chip (LOC) devices—microchip-size systems that can prepare and analyze tiny fluid samples with volumes ranging from a few microliters (millionth of a

NIST's Speedy Ions Could Add Zip to Quantum Computers

August 8, 2012

Take that, sports cars! Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can accelerate their beryllium ions from zero to 100 miles per

This short movie shows the image of the 'N' in NIST being randomly amplified and de-amplified by the four-wave mixing technique.

Seeing the Light with NIST's New Noiseless Optical Amplifier

August 8, 2012

Most devices that amplify light suffer from the same problem: making the image brighter also adds muddying distortion. Scientists working at the National

This cartridge case shows the three distinct marks, or 'signatures,' impressed on its surface when it was fired by a gun

Shelling Out Evidence: NIST Ballistic Standard Helps Tie Guns to Criminals

August 8, 2012

Thanks to a new reference standard developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), law enforcement agencies will have an easier time

CNST Releases the Summer 2012 Edition of The CNST News

August 8, 2012

The NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) is pleased to announce the release of the summer 2012 edition of The CNST News. This quarterly

Researchers Track Nanoparticle Dynamics in Three Dimensions

August 1, 2012

Researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology have used three-dimensional single-particle tracking to measure the dynamic behavior of

A close-up photo of the center of the experimental set-up. The small transparent chamber that holds the ultracold rubidium atoms is surrounded by a dotted line.

Simulating Superconductors with a Touch of Disorder

July 26, 2012

Since their discovery in 1986, high-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors have been the subject of intense interest to researchers. But the mechanism behind the

Three NIST Researchers Earn Presidential Honor

July 25, 2012

The White House has announced that three researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will receive the 2011 Presidential Early

New SRM for Bullet Casings

July 23, 2012

At a time when the reliability of crime lab findings is under increasing scrutiny, PML researchers have provided law enforcement with an important new tool for

MEMS Reference Material: Tiny Dimensions, Big Impact

July 23, 2012

Over the past two decades, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have become ubiquitous, with applications in cell phones, ink-jet printers, accelerometers and

The State Armory Building in Boulder, Colorado, was the first home of JILA

JILA Named 'Physics Historic Site' on its 50th Anniversary

July 11, 2012

JILA, a Colorado laboratory known around the world for creating new states of matter and novel laser designs and applications, turns 50 this year and will

Researchers Demonstrate and Explain Surface Conduction in a Topological Insulator

July 11, 2012

Researchers at the University of Maryland and the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology have for the first time experimentally demonstrated surface

Hark! Group Demonstrates First Heralded Single Photon Source Made from Silicon

June 27, 2012

In an important step towards more practical quantum information processing, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the

illustration of pseudomagnetic fields that confine grahene's electrons and create quntized quantum dot-like energy levels

'Tuning' Graphene Drums Might Turn Conductors to Semiconductors

June 27, 2012

Tightening or relaxing the tension on a drumhead will change the way the drum sounds. The same goes for drumheads made from graphene, only instead of changing

Artist's conception of JILA's advance in atomic force microscope (AFM) design.

Not-So-Precious: Stripping Gold From AFM Probes Allows Better Measurement of Picoscale Forces

June 27, 2012

Gold is not necessarily precious—at least not as a coating on atomic force microscope (AFM) probes. JILA researchers found that removing an AFM probe's gold

Shaffique Adam Receives Singapore National Research Foundation Fellowship

June 27, 2012

Shaffique Adam, an NRC Postdoctoral Research Associate in the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, has been awarded a 2012 Singapore National

NIST Goes the Distance for the Olympics

June 27, 2012

In yet another Olympian feat of measurement, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently calibrated a tape that will be

Graphene Drumheads Tuned to Make Quantum Dots

June 21, 2012

Tightening or relaxing the tension on a drumhead will change the way the drum sounds. The same goes for drumheads made from graphene, only instead of changing

First Observation of the Hall Effect in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

June 19, 2012

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have observed for the first time the Hall effect in a gas of ultracold atoms. The Hall effect

JILA Frequency Comb Helps Evaluate Novel Biomedical Decontamination Method

June 14, 2012

Like many new measurement tools, the laser frequency comb seemed at first a curiosity but has found more practical uses than originally imagined. The technique

NIST Effort Could Improve High-Tech Medical Scanners

June 12, 2012

A powerful color-based imaging technique is making the jump from remote sensing to the operating room—and a team of scientists* at the National Institute of

NIST Launches New Website to Educate Industry About Alternatives to Mercury Thermometers

June 12, 2012

As part of a larger effort to reduce the amount of mercury, a potent neurotoxin, in the environment, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Advanced communications
-Open Radio Access Network (Open-RAN)
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--Agility and adaptability
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Materials
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Mathematics and statistics
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Metrology
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Nanotechnology
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