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Metrology

Optical / photometry / laser metrology

News and Updates

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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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

NIST 'Vision Science Facility' Aims for Lighting Revolution

September 28, 2010

Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, have become popular with backpackers and cyclists who mount them on headbands for a reliable, hands-free source of illumination...

Glasperlenspiel: NIST Scientists Propose New Test for Gravity

August 31, 2010

A new experiment proposed by physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may allow researchers to test the effects of gravity with...

NIST, NASA Launch Joint Effort to Develop New Climate Satellites

March 2, 2010

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have launched a joint effort to gather...

$A single photon travels through alternating layers of low (blue) and high (green) refractive index material more slowly (top) or quickly (bottom) depending upon the order of the layers.$