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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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O'Brian Named Director of NIST Boulder Laboratories

October 26, 2006

Thomas R. O'Brian, chief of the Time and Frequency Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has been appointed director of the...

The NIST process for "purifying" an unusual property of quantum physics called entanglement involves illuminating two pairs of beryllium ions (charged atoms) with a series of ultraviolet laser pulses.

NIST Physicists Boost 'Entanglement' of Atom Pairs

October 18, 2006

BOULDER, Colo.—Physicists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have taken a significant step toward transforming...

NIST Releases New Standard for Semiconductor Industry

October 12, 2006

A wide range of optical electronic devices, from laser disk players to traffic lights, may be improved in the future thanks to a small piece of semiconductor...

Molecular Spintronic Action Confirmed in Nanostructure

October 12, 2006

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made the first confirmed "spintronic" device incorporating organic molecules, a...

NIST Physicist Awarded Service to America Medal

September 28, 2006

Dr. William D. Phillips, the first researcher from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to become a Nobel Laureate, has been awarded the...

Emergency Tests Focus on Lab Radioactivity Analyses

September 28, 2006

Working under severe time pressure, government laboratories can analyze radioactive samples fairly quickly—in a matter of hours—but with variable accuracy, and...

Small, Low-noise Oscillator May Help in Surveillance

September 14, 2006

A new design for a microwave oscillator that is smaller, simpler, and produces clearer signals at a single frequency than comparable devices has been invented...

Joint Quantum Institute Created by University of Maryland, NIST and NSA

September 11, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Today, the University of Maryland (UM), the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National...

NIST Scientists Use Electron Beam to Unravel the Secrets of an 'Atomic Switch'

August 17, 2006

GAITHERSBURG, MD –Scientists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used a beam of electrons to move a single...

Two NIST Researchers Earn Presidential Honors

August 3, 2006

The White House has announced that two researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are among the 56 recipients of the 2005...

Workshop Addresses Imaging Technology in Therapeutics

August 3, 2006

Increasingly, medical and pharmaceutical researchers are looking to biomedical imaging as a tool to track disease progress, speed drug discovery and improve...

Road to AC Voltage Standard Leads to Important Junction

July 20, 2006

After 10 years of research, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has unveiled the world's first precision instrument for directly measuring...

'Micro-boxes' of Water Used to Study Single Molecules

July 20, 2006

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated the use of water droplets as minuscule "boxes" for small numbers of...

NIST physicist Jim Bergquist with the mercury ion clock

Mercury Atomic Clock Keeps Time with Record Accuracy

July 14, 2006

BOULDER, COLO.—An experimental atomic clock based on a single mercury atom is now at least five times more precise than the national standard clock based on a...

False-color images of 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 magnesium ions loaded into NIST's new planar ion trap

New Ion Trap May Lead to Large Quantum Computers

July 6, 2006

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have designed and built a novel electromagnetic trap for ions that could be easily mass...

NIST Grant to University of Maryland Steps Up the Agency's Nanotechnology Efforts

July 6, 2006

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have joined in a $1.5 million...

Noise Measurement May Boost Cell Phone Performance

June 22, 2006

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and industry collaborators have developed improved methods for accurately measuring...

Three NIST Scientists Receive Flemming Awards

June 8, 2006

Three scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will be among 11 federal employees to receive the Arthur S. Flemming Awards at...

Circuit Board Materials May Like It Hot (or Not)

June 8, 2006

Electrical circuits may act differently in Arizona than they do in Alaska—potentially affecting the performance of computers and other electronics. A new...

Laser Trapping of Erbium May Lead to Novel Devices

April 28, 2006

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used lasers to cool and trap erbium atoms, a "rare earth" heavy metal with unusual...

Image taken from animation that shows how single photons are sent and detected by the NIST QKD system.

Code for 'Unbreakable' Quantum Encryption Generated at Record Speed over Fiber

April 18, 2006

Gaithersburg, Md.—Raw code for "unbreakable" encryption, based on the principles of quantum physics, has been generated at record speed over optical fiber at...

Commerce Secretary Gutierrez Announces New Nanotechnology Center; Focus Is on Building Infrastructure for Nanomanufacturing

March 20, 2006

DETROIT—U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez today in Detroit announced the launch of a state-of-the-art center for collaborative nanotechnology...

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