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Material Measurement Laboratory

Materials Measurement Science Division

News and Updates

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A Light Bright and Tiny: NIST Scientists Build a Better Nanoscale LED

August 14, 2020

A new design for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) developed by a team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may hold the...

$an opalescent close up of Roman glass. There is a clear semi-circular fracture in the center of the piece.$

Spotlight: George Quinn and Roman Glass Fractography

May 2, 2020

Cracking the code for artifacts of antiquity — NIST guest researcher George Quinn is applying his expertise in fractography to ancient Roman glass. Our world is...

In Glowing Colors: Seeing the Spread of Drug Particles in a Forensic Lab

April 22, 2020

When two scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) brought black lights and glow powder into the Maryland State Police crime lab...

Calibration of a Commercial Rheometer for Orthogonal Superposition Measurement

March 12, 2020

NIST researchers have addressed crucial calibration procedures for an advanced rheological technique that can make measurements on the structural dynamics of...

MML Releases Updated Phase Equilibria Diagram Database (NIST SRD31)

November 27, 2019

Version 4.4 of Phase Equilibria Diagrams (Standard Reference Database 31) is now available to the research community. The database provides maps of the...

Several rectangular pieces of flat metal, a fake key and a rectangular "gun shaped" piece of metal are arranged on a table.

NIST Develops New Standards to Improve Metal-Detector Testing

November 6, 2019

Metal detectors now appear routinely in the entrances of many schools, airports and even houses of worship. They serve as portals to correctional facilities...

A Safer Way for Police to Test Drug Evidence

September 17, 2019

Scientists have demonstrated a way for police to quickly and safely test whether a baggie or other package contains illegal drugs without having to handle any...

Multiscale Polymer Dynamics in Hierarchical Carbon Nanotube Grafted Glass Fiber Reinforced Composites

August 27, 2019

NIST researchers utilized a suite of techniques typically reserved to investigate polymer dynamics and structure in nanocomposites with dispersed fillers to...

Assessing the Next-Generation Backing Materials for Body Armor Testing

March 28, 2019

A framework of rheological techniques was developed to evaluate a candidate ballistic witness material developed by the U.S. Army.

An electron micrograph showing a globular cluster of silver nanoparticles atop the surface of a cutting board from which it was scratched off.

Do Kitchen Items Shed Antimicrobial Nanoparticles After Use?

November 8, 2018

Because of their antimicrobial and antifungal properties, silver nanoparticles measuring between one and 100 nanometers (billionth of a meter) in size, are...

Two vials, one with heroin and one with an equivalent dose of fentanyl, which is a much smaller amount.

New Protocol for Measuring Background Levels of Drugs in Crime Labs

September 25, 2018

When crime lab chemists handle evidence that contains illegal drugs, trace amounts of those drugs are inevitably released into the laboratory environment. When...

Pratt & Whitney Senior Engineer Chris Pellicone (left) with NIST's Bruce Ravel (right) at the Beamline for Material Measurement (BMM)

Industry a key component of newly commissioned NIST beamline at Brookhaven National Laboratory

August 2, 2018

Building off of a nearly 40 year partnership with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), NIST has recently completed and commissioned the Beamline for Material...

First Light at NIST’s Spectroscopy Soft and Tender NSLS-II Beamlines

March 14, 2018

February 17, 2018 marked the culmination of ten years of planning and construction for NIST’s NSLS-II Spectroscopy Beamline Suite, with first light at the Soft...

NIST, NFL, GE and Under Armour Announce Dynamic Research and 6D Helmets as Grand Prize Winner in Head Health Challenge III

September 6, 2017

GAITHERSBURG, MD—The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Football League (NFL), GE (NYSE: GE), and...

MRS Bulletin Material Matters

July 14, 2017

The MGI [Materials Genome Initiative] is going to change the way materials science is done. In the next 10-to-20 years, we’ll be doing materials discovery and...

X-rays from Copper Source Set New Gold Standard for Measuring Industrial Materials

May 12, 2017

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have produced and precisely measured a spectrum of X-rays using a new, state-of-the-art...

Fentanyl Can Sicken First Responders. Here’s a Possible Solution.

May 9, 2017

Dan Kallen, a detective in southern New Jersey, was searching a home with fellow officers in August 2015, when they found a bag of white powder. Kallen removed...

Graphene Lid Revitalizes Imaging Technique

March 31, 2017

By capping liquids with graphene, an ultrathin sheet of pure carbon, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their...

Odor Detection with An Artificial Dog Nose

Sniffing Like a Dog Can Improve Trace Detection of Explosives

December 1, 2016

By mimicking how dogs get their whiffs, government and university researchers have demonstrated that “active sniffing” can improve by more than 10 times the...

NIST-Made ‘Sun and Rain’ Detail How Nanoparticles Can Escape from Plastic Coatings into the Environment

September 30, 2016

If the 1967 film “The Graduate” were remade today, Mr. McGuire’s famous advice to young Benjamin Braddock would probably be updated to “Plastics … with...

NIST Releases Expanded "Fractography" Guide for Analyzing, Understanding Brittle Material Failures

September 16, 2016

Studying the fractures of industrially important materials such as ceramics and glasses provides important clues on why these materials can fail and how to make...

Electron micrograph of surface-directed nanochannels formed on surface of indium phosphide.

Nanoworld "Snow Blowers" Carve Straight Channels in Semiconductor Surfaces

December 28, 2015

In the nanoworld, tiny particles of gold can operate like snow blowers, churning through surface layers of an important class of semiconductors to dig...

Scientist puts material down below a tube. Background: computer screen

NFL, Under Armour, GE & National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Announce Five Winners of Head Health Challenge III

December 15, 2015

NEW YORK – The National Football League (NFL), Under Armour (NYSE:UA), GE (NYSE: GE), and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and...

NIST Takes (Some of) the Stress Out of Engineering New Materials

November 13, 2015

Stress: What does it feel like to you? Maybe like pressure from multiple directions, trying to push and pull and twist you all at once? If so, you've described...

Who, What, WHEN: Determining the Age of Fingerprints

August 24, 2015

Watch the imprint of a tire track in soft mud, and it will slowly blur, the ridges of the pattern gradually flowing into the valleys. Researchers at the...

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