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Electronics

Sensors

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NIST Researchers Use Cellphone Compass to Measure Tiny Concentrations of Compounds Important for Human Health

April 1, 2024

Nearly every modern cellphone has a built-in compass, or magnetometer, that detects the direction of Earth’s magnetic field, providing critical information for

Bullseye! NIST Devises a Method to Accurately Center Quantum Dots Within Photonic Chips

March 18, 2024

Devices that capture the brilliant light from millions of quantum dots, including chip-scale lasers and optical amplifiers, have made the transition from

Researchers develop a new type of frequency comb that promises to further boost the accuracy of time keeping

March 14, 2024

Chip-based devices known as frequency combs, which measure the frequency of light waves with unparalleled precision, have revolutionized time keeping, the

An illustrated anatomically correct human heart sits inside of a microchip, with its valves connecting to the microchip sensors.

Heart-on-a-Chip: A Microfluidic Marvel Shaping the Future of Cardiovascular Research

February 6, 2024

Researchers at NIST have developed bioelectronic devices capable of real-time measurements of cell behavior.

Micrograph shows six blue boxes with thin lines at the center, each connected to white rectangular shapes.

Spotlight: A New Wavelength of Scientific Exploration With Single-Photon Detectors

January 29, 2024

From the minuscule bindings of molecules to the far reaches of space, we’re exploring the universe around us by catching sight of the smallest particles of

Microwave Detectors and Multiplexing: NIST Researchers Help Astronomers Examine the Early Universe

January 24, 2024

Perched atop a high plateau in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a long-awaited observatory is beginning to take shape: the largest suite of ground-based telescopes

NIST Researchers Help Design a Prototype Quantum Computer

December 20, 2023

Researchers have created a prototype quantum computer with a record number of qubits—the analog of bits in an ordinary computer—capable of performing logical

NIST’s Ultra-small, Shape-shifting GEMS Offer an Easier and Cheaper way to improve MRI Imaging

December 20, 2023

Microscopic magnetic probes that change shape in response to their environment may greatly enhance magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, producing the

Illustrated celestial body shines on a flat box-shaped device with a protruding center.

NIST Team Develops Highest-Resolution Single-Photon Superconducting Camera

October 25, 2023

Researchers at NIST and their colleagues have built a superconducting camera containing 400,000 pixels — 400 times more than any other device of its type.

NIST Researchers Explain the Value of Standards-based Sensors in EE Times University Course

September 1, 2023

NIST’s Eugene Song and Kang Lee presented on how standards and interoperability empower smart sensing in a course titled, “ Mastering IoT Design: Sense, Process

Detangling Light-based Thermometers with Combs

August 29, 2023

Photonic thermometers, which measure temperature using light, have the potential to revolutionize temperature measurement by being faster, smaller, and more

NIST Researcher Provides Insights on Future Smart Sensors and Actuator Standards

August 1, 2023

NIST researcher Eugene Song addressed 2023 Sensor Converge, the North America’s largest electronics event for design engineers, on smart sensor and actuator

Two people wearing coveralls in a "clean room" lab look up at a disk-shaped object that one of them is holding.

Spotlight: Detecting the Inner Workings and Origins of Our Universe With NIST Researcher Tammy Lucas

July 20, 2023

NIST researcher Tammy Lucas is building tools to help astronomers and cosmologists look back in time to the earliest moments of our universe — and see what we

Flat surface designed with black lines that outline a red box and extend outward into a gold exterior. A gold column full of black lines cuts across the red box. At its center, a box in a faint green is surrounded by a thin silver border.

Spotlight: Differing Device Personalities Come Together for Future Quantum Computing Networks

April 28, 2023

We’re building the tools to trap ions and watch them glow (or not). The art-deco-esque device shown here is a combined trap for ions (charged atoms) and

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration, which includes scientists from NIST, Unveils New Map of Dark Matter

April 17, 2023

A groundbreaking new image taken by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in Chile reveals the most detailed map ever taken of the distribution of dark matter

NIST Scientists Develop Novel CT Scan Device for Integrated Circuits

April 14, 2023

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have developed a novel tabletop device that takes three

Manipulating Multiple Lasers on a Single Chip: Paving the Way for a New Generation of Quantum Devices

April 10, 2023

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed chip-scale devices for simultaneously manipulating the color, focus

NIST’s NanoFab Reopens its Doors to Universities, Industry, and Research Institutions

April 3, 2023

In the Lilliputian world of nanofabrication, where billions of microscopic circuit elements are sculpted or imprinted on a fingernail-sized silicon chip

Samantha Walker stands next to a four-tiered instrument suspended in the air.

Spotlight: Graduate Student Sam Walker Found Her Place in Space With NIST Detectors

March 31, 2023

NIST researcher Samantha Walker builds time machines. Not like in the movies, but her technology can help astronomers see the earliest light in our universe.

Sounding Out a New Way to Measure Gas Flow

March 31, 2023

Researchers at NIST have developed a new — and sound — way to accurately measure the rate at which gas flows in and out of a vessel. The technique, which uses

Improved Chip-Scale Color Conversion Lasers Could Enable Many Next-generation Quantum Devices

March 28, 2023

In two new studies, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have greatly improved the efficiency and power output of a series

NIST Researchers Inform Development of Standard for Smart Grid Sensors

March 1, 2023

NIST researchers Eugene Song and Kang Lee participated in the IEEE P2681 working group, which led to the development of a technical report, PES-TR102, MV Smart

〈Q|School Single Photonics Short Course: Sources, Detectors and Measurements

February 21, 2023

In cooperation with researchers and metrologists from around the world, the University of Colorado and NIST Boulder presented a short course consisting of

Licensing Opportunities for NIST Technologies

November 18, 2022

New technologies are always invented in the labs at NIST every year. The researchers dedicate their time to discovering these new solutions to problems and

Measuring Sunlight from Space, on a Chip

November 4, 2022

For 40 years, people have used space-based sensors to measure the amount of light coming from the Sun, which gives scientists insight into climate change on

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