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Metrology

News and Updates

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No Longer Under Pressure: NIST Dismantles Giant Mercury Manometer

June 28, 2019

Video by: Jennifer Lauren Lee/NIST. Animations: Sean Kelley/NIST. Music: Blue Dot Sessions. Photos: Bruce Johnson and Jay Hendricks/NIST For the last 30 years...

NIST Presents First Real-World Test of New Smokestack Emissions Sensor Designs

June 26, 2019

In collaboration with industry, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have completed the first real-world test of a...

Diagram of a flat surface with orange squares on either side and red and blue stripes in between, with a white ball hovering over a red stripe.

NIST Team Supersizes ‘Quantum Squeezing’ to Measure Ultrasmall Motion

June 20, 2019

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have harnessed the phenomenon of “quantum squeezing” to amplify and measure trillionths...

Table covered with lenses and other optical equipment, and a flat screen mounted high in the background showing a yellow squiggly line across the top and a spiky orange line below.

NIST Infrared Frequency Comb Measures Biological Signatures

June 7, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and collaborators have demonstrated a compact frequency-comb apparatus that rapidly...

Square gray cube with two square holes in it and a gold square in between the holes, and a dark brown coffee bean leaning against the cube.

NIST Team Demonstrates Heart of Next-Generation Chip-Scale Atomic Clock

May 17, 2019

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and partners have demonstrated an experimental, next-generation atomic clock—ticking at...

JQI Researchers Shed New Light on Atomic ‘Wave Function’

May 16, 2019

Physicists have demonstrated a new way to obtain the essential details that describe an isolated quantum system, such as a gas of atoms, through direct...

Precise Temperature Measurements with Invisible Light

May 6, 2019

Ordinarily, you won’t encounter a radiation thermometer until somebody puts one in your ear at the doctor’s office or you point one at your forehead when you’re...

NIST Research Sparks New Insights on Laser Welding

April 30, 2019

On its surface, the work is deceptively simple: Shoot a high-power laser beam onto a piece of metal for a fraction of a second and see what happens. But...

EBIT’s Improved X-ray Vision Promises Astronomical Insights

April 25, 2019

Look at an astronomical marvel like the Cat’s Eye Nebula at right, with an average gas temperature about twice as hot as the surface of the Sun. It seems...

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.

NIST Announces 2019 Opportunities for Small Businesses

March 14, 2019

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced the fiscal year 2019 Small Business Innovation Research...

FLOC Takes Flight: First Portable Prototype of Photonic Pressure Sensor

February 25, 2019

In collaboration with industry, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made the first portable prototype of the Fixed...

Avoiding the Crack of Doom

February 25, 2019

Just as a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, the deformations and fractures that cause catastrophic failure in materials begin with a few...

Man in goggles standing next to and looking into a large box with open lid showing what appears to be electrical equipment and wiring inside

NIST ‘Astrocomb’ Opens New Horizons for Planet-Hunting Telescope

February 19, 2019

The hunt for Earth-like planets, and perhaps extraterrestrial life, just got more precise, thanks to record-setting starlight measurements made possible by a...

After 90 Years, a Better Way to Measure the Composition of Paper

February 14, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), have developed a...

NIST Atomic Clocks Now Keep Time Well Enough to Improve Models of Earth

November 28, 2018

Experimental atomic clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have achieved three new performance records, now ticking precisely...

Photonic Radiation Sensors Survive Huge Doses Undamaged

November 27, 2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have published landmark test results that suggest a promising class of sensors can be...

New Device Widens Light Beams by 400 Times, Broadening Possibilities in Science and Technology

November 27, 2018

By using light waves instead of electric current to transmit data, photonic chips—circuits for light—have advanced fundamental research in many areas from...

White Cat Hair on Black Pants: International Study Measures Stability of Precision Masses to Benefit Trade

November 26, 2018

When are two nominally identical kilogram masses no longer identical? When each goes to a different place and adsorbs varying amounts of moisture and...

6 people standing on a stage in front of a screen that reads: 26th CGPM

Historic Vote Ties Kilogram and Other Units to Natural Constants

November 16, 2018

Versailles, France—A convocation of delegates representing 60 countries voted today in Versailles to implement the most significant change to the International...

A New Way to Measure Nearly Nothing

October 19, 2018

Many semiconductor fabricators and research labs are under increasing pressure from, of all things, vacuum. These facilities need to remove greater amounts of...

Uncrunching the Frequency Spectrum

September 26, 2018

The squeeze is here, and the crunch is coming. Soon. Explosive demand for high-speed wireless communication is placing growing pressure on the limited frequency...

Introducing the ‘Smart Mirror’

September 17, 2018

Lasers play roles in many manufacturing processes, from welding car parts to crafting engine components with 3D printers.* To control these tasks, manufacturers...

Helping the Microchip Industry Go (Very Low) with the Flow

August 22, 2018

A new study by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has uncovered a source of error in an industry-standard calibration...

Exactly how loud is that jackhammer?

August 17, 2018

When a jackhammer starts pounding outside your window at 7 o’clock on a Monday morning, you might find it annoying. For the worker who is running that...

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