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Physical Measurement Laboratory

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New Design for Transistors Powered by Single Electrons

February 2, 2006

Scientists have demonstrated the first reproducible, controllable silicon transistors that are turned on and off by the motion of individual electrons. The...

Stable Polymer Nanotubes May Have a Biotech Future

February 2, 2006

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created polymer nanotubes that are unusually long (about 1 centimeter) as well as...

NIST Names Hockert Chief of Weights and Measures

January 17, 2006

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced Jan. 10 that Carol Hockert has been selected as the new chief of the NIST Weights and...

Simulation Program Predicts Resistivity in Nanodevices

January 17, 2006

As nanoscale circuits continue to shrink, electrical resistivity increases in the wiring and limits the maximum circuit speed. A new simulation program...

Enjoy New Year's Eve a Second Longer!

December 22, 2005

You can toot your New Year's horn an extra second this year, say physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Along with the rest of...

Measurement and Standards Issues in Nanobiotechnology

December 22, 2005

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will co-host a workshop to discuss needed measurement technologies and standards in the rapidly...

An instrument called GAMS4, originally designed and built at NIST and now located at Institut Laue Langevin in France

Einstein Was Right (Again): Experiments Confirm that E= mc²

December 21, 2005

GAITHERSBURG--Albert Einstein was correct in his prediction that E=mc 2, according to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the...

NIST Physicists Coax Six Atoms into Quantum 'Cat' State

November 30, 2005

BOULDER, Colo. – Scientists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have coaxed six atoms into spinning together in...

Nobel Laureate wins Presidential Rank Award

November 17, 2005

NIST Fellow William D. Phillips, 1997 Nobel Laureate in physics, is a distinguished recipient of a 2005 Presidential Rank Award for exceptional long-term...

Two Universities Get Grants for Precision Measurements

November 17, 2005

NIST has awarded two new Precision Measurement Grants to promote fundamental research in measurement science in U.S. colleges and universities. One grant was...

The NIST "transition-edge sensor" is made of layers of molybdenum and copper with a coating of bismuth to increase the X-ray stopping power.

Copper Ridges Nearly Double X-ray Sensor Performance

November 17, 2005

A series of copper ridges nearly doubles the resolution of experimental X-ray sensors, enabling more precise identification of the X-ray "fingerprints" of...

NIST Physicist Honored for Technological Innovation

October 20, 2005

NIST Fellow Jun Ye was honored Oct. 8 at the "Amazing Light: Visions for Discovery" symposium held to celebrate the 90th birthday of 1964 Nobel Laureate Charles...

NIST/JILA Fellow Jan Hall Shares 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics

October 4, 2005

Congratulatory letter from Congressman Boehlert (requires Acrobat Reader) Boulder, Colo.—John L. (Jan) Hall of the Commerce Department's National Institute of...

Meeting on New Technologies and Radiation Measurements

September 23, 2005

The impact of new technologies on radiation measurements and standards will be the focus of the 14th annual conference of the Council on Ionizing Radiation...

orange patterned background with two candy corn-looking peaks and whiter ridges around the peaks

Like Fireflies and Pendulum Clocks, Nano-oscillators Synchronize Their Behavior

September 14, 2005

BOULDER, Colo.—Like the flashing of fireflies and ticking of pendulum clocks, the signals emitted by multiple nanoscale oscillators can naturally synchronize...

Physicist Richard Steiner adjusts the electronic kilogram, an experimental apparatus for defining mass in terms of the basic properties of nature.

NIST Improves Accuracy of 'Watt Balance' Method for Defining the Kilogram

September 13, 2005

GAITHERSBURG, MD—A leading experimental method for defining the kilogram in terms of properties of nature is now more accurate than ever, scientists at the...

Industrial Physics Forum: Innovation Infrastructure

August 26, 2005

Industry executives, research managers, academics and science policy decision makers are invited to attend The Industrial Physics Forum on Nov. 6-8, 2005, at...

New Guide Is Timely for Radio Controlled Clocks, Watches

August 10, 2005

Got the correct time? Radio controlled clocks and watches that automatically synchronize to official U.S. time provided by the National Institute of Standards...

NIST Demonstrates Better Memory with Quantum Computer Bits

August 10, 2005

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used charged atoms (ions) to demonstrate a quantum physics version of computer...

Compact JILA System Stabilizes Laser Frequency

July 26, 2005

A compact, inexpensive method for stabilizing lasers that uses a new design to reduce sensitivity to vibration and gravity 100 times better than similar...

JILA Study of RNA Dynamics May Help in Drug Design

July 13, 2005

Biophysicists have developed a method for studying, in real time, a nanoscale “docking and undocking” interaction between small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA)...

Temperature Control Improves NIST X-ray Detector

July 13, 2005

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an improved experimental X-ray detector that could pave the way to a new...

Predicting the Lifetime of Extreme UV Optics

July 13, 2005

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) may be the next-generation patterning technique used to produce smaller and faster microchips with feature sizes of 32...

NIST Finds Rough Spot in Surface Measurement

July 13, 2005

For makers of computers, disk drives and other sophisticated technologies, a guiding principle is the smoother the surfaces of chips and other components, the...

Reference Materials Planned for Semiconductor Industry

June 30, 2005

Companies and research organizations are invited to collaborate with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and SEMATECH in the development...

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