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Metrology

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Adding Up Photons with a TES

November 14, 2011

Scientists have demonstrated that a superconducting detector called a transition edge sensor (TES) is capable of counting the number of as many as 1,000 photons...

Redefining the SI Base Units

November 2, 2011

Note: Much more recent information is available about redefinition of the SI units. For a comprehensive general overview, see How to Weigh Everything from...

Traveling SIRCUS Tests Satellite Sensors

October 3, 2011

For NASA's Earth Observing System satellite fleet, sensor failure is not an option. The nation depends critically on the data from those satellites, orbiting...

NIST Quantum Dot Helps Scientists 'See' Quantum Mechanics at Work

October 3, 2011

A quantum dot made at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has helped an international team of researchers "see" the inner workings of...

PML Develops Graphene Fabrication Capability

October 3, 2011

Graphene – a single-layer planar sheet of carbon atoms bound in a "chicken-wire" lattice—has become the object of intense international research ever since its...

NIST Gets HIP: a New method for testing optical imaging sensors

October 3, 2011

A new type of scene projector in development at PML will enable the performance of future optical and infrared imaging instruments to be evaluated by having...

Reading Between the Lines in Lithium: New measurements of unprecedented accuracy resolve a longstanding data disagreement problem

October 3, 2011

A team of PML researchers has solved a longstanding problem plaguing experimental tests of the atomic theory of lithium, and in the process uncovered a...

Better 'Photon Loops' May Be Key to Computer and Physics Advances

August 22, 2011

Surprisingly, transmitting information-rich photons thousands of miles through fiber-optic cable is far easier than reliably sending them just a few nanometers...

Greenhouse Gases: The Measurement Challenge

August 16, 2011

The continuing increase in the level of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" in the Earth's atmosphere has been identified as a cause for serious concern...

Piece of Cake: Arrays of Long Nanotubes May Help Measure Terahertz Laser Power

July 19, 2011

Terahertz radiation can penetrate numerous materials—plastic, clothing, paper and some biological tissues—making it an attractive candidate for applications...

Photo of UC graduate student Matt Kirchner fine-tuning an ultra-stable microwave generator at NIST

A Quiet Phase: NIST Optical Tools Produce Ultra-low-noise Microwave Signals

June 27, 2011

By combining advanced laser technologies in a new way, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have generated microwave signals...

National Conference on Weights and Measures Annual Meeting Set for July 17-21, 2011

June 7, 2011

Preventing fraud at oil-change services and enabling consumers to make value comparisons when shopping for printer ink will be among the many issues discussed...

Graph shows the NIST detector's linear increase in frequency as a function of time

The Secret Behind NIST's New Gas Detector? Chirp Before Sniffing

May 10, 2011

Trace gas detection, the ability to detect a scant quantity of a particular molecule—a whiff of formaldehyde or a hint of acetone—in a vast sea of others...

NIST/JILA Physicist Wins Optical Society's Meggers Award

April 12, 2011

Steven Cundiff, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has received the 2011 William F. Meggers Award from the Optical...

The Heat Is On: NIST Zeroes In On Energy Consumption of Ice Makers

April 12, 2011

In tests of four different types of new refrigerators, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers found that ice makers increased rated...

Sharpened Focus: Improving the Numbers, Utility of Medical Imaging

April 12, 2011

The idea of probing the body's interior with radiation stretches back to experiments with X rays in the 1800s, but more than a century later, images taken with...

Microreactors: Small Scale Chemistry Could Lead to Big Improvements for Biodegradable Polymers

March 30, 2011

Using a small block of aluminum with a tiny groove carved in it, a team of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the...

NIST physicist Samuel Benz with the two components that are compared in the first electronic measurement of the Boltzmann constant.

A Measurement First: NIST 'Noise Thermometry' System Measures Boltzmann Constant

March 30, 2011

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have for the first time used an apparatus that relies on the "noise" of jiggling...

A photo of fuzzy household cleaners as they're seen through the vision system used in the Perception Challenge

NIST and Willow Garage Launch First Robot 'Perception Challenge'

February 25, 2011

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is teaming up with Willow Garage, a Silicon Valley robotics research and design firm, to launch an...

NIST Advances Single Photon Management for Quantum Computers

January 19, 2011

The quantum computers of tomorrow might use photons, or particles of light, to move around the data they need to make calculations, but photons are tricky to...

New Wave: JILA Develops Efficient Source of Terahertz Radiation

January 19, 2011

JILA researchers have developed a laser-based source of terahertz radiation that is unusually efficient and less prone to damage than similar systems. The...

NIST Telescope Calibration May Help Explain Mystery of Universe's Expansion

January 5, 2011

Is the expansion of the universe accelerating for some unknown reason? This is one of the mysteries plaguing astrophysics, and somewhere in distant galaxies are...

AFM Positioning: Shining Light on a Needle in a Haystack

November 9, 2010

The researchers characterize their new technique as a neat solution to the "needle in a haystack" problem of nanoscale microscopy, but it's more like the...

'Sí' on the New SI: NIST Backs Proposal for a Revamped System of Measurement Units

October 26, 2010

Taking the first steps of what would be a major historical advance in the science of measurement, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is...

Integrated circuit for NIST's new programmable AC/DC 10-volt standard

NIST Ships First Programmable AC/DC 10-Volt Standard

October 26, 2010

Extending its 26-year tradition of innovative quantum voltage standards, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have begun...

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