Radiation

Seven small bottles with labels including "River Sediment" and "Human Liver"

Radioactivity Standard Reference Materials

Woman standing in a lab holds a rectangular radiation detector near a metal globe that has been painted with a radiation symbol

Q&A with Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal Finalist Leticia Pibida

SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT: RADIOMETRIC DATING

Dating can be complicated. Our team uses this instrument — a live-timed anticoincidence counter — to figure the decay rate of an isotope, which we can then use to determine an object’s age in the geological history of our planet (through a process called radiometric dating). Encased in 6,350 kg (14,000 lbs.) of lead blocks to shield from external radiation, its two levels of detection make this one of the most precise instruments for radioactivity measurements at NIST. Right now, our team is preparing to better measure the decay of iodine-129, which could expand dating capabilities beyond carbon’s 50,000 years to 160,000,000 years. That’s a lot of history we’ll be able to account for.

R. Wilson/NIST

News and Updates

Six people stand in front of a tan building, cutting a blue ribbon

NIST Unveils New Laboratory Building for Improved National Radiation Measurements

September 24, 2019

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to unveil a

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

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

The Shape in Water

July 23, 2018

Tinkering with a method they helped develop over the last few years, scientists have for the first time used it to measure at the nanometer scale the

Projects and Programs

Carrier Dynamics Measured by Ultrafast Time-Resolved Terahertz Spectroscopy

Non-contact far-infrared (or THz, 25 to 300 micron wavelength) femtosecond laser methods are employed to measure 2D, bulk semiconductors, photovoltaic (PV)

Ultrafast Molecular Switch Dynamics Examined by Mid-Infrared Femtosecond Spectroscopy (Archived)

Ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses are used to observe fast molecular and photochemical reaction processes occurring in the condensed phase. We have developed

Neutron Imaging for Advanced Catalyst Development and Durability Studies

Neutron imaging continues to play a key role in elucidating the role of water in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) as highlighted by two projects

Neutron Lifetime Measurement Using a Cold Neutron Beam

Neutron beta-decay is the process in which a neutron is transformed into a proton, electron, and electron antineutrino. This process is well described in the

Publications

False Alarm Testing for Radiation Detection Systems

October 2, 2020

Author(s)

Dennis D. Leber, Leticia S. Pibida

An operator of a radiation detection system that displays a high rate of false alarms may be- come desensitized to these alarms. This action is known as alarm

The Next Generation of Current Measurement for Ionization Chambers

September 1, 2020

Author(s)

Ryan P. Fitzgerald, Denis E. Bergeron, Dean G. Jarrett, Neil M. Zimmerman, Carine Michotte, Hansjoerg Scherer, Stephen Giblin, Steven Judge

Re-entrant ionization chambers (ICs) are essential to radionuclide metrology and nuclear medicine for maintaining standards and measuring half-lives. Metrology

Radionuclide calibrator responses for 224Ra in solution and adsorbed on calcium carbonate microparticles

June 12, 2020

Author(s)

Denis E. Bergeron, Elisa Napoli, Jeffrey T. Cessna, Leticia S. Pibida, Ryan P. Fitzgerald, Gro Hjellum

A suspension of 224Ra adsorbed onto CaCO3 microparticles shows promise for localized internal α‐therapy of intracavitary micro-metastatic diseases, i.e

Effect of Teflon® Transmittance on Sensitivity of Thermoluminescence Dosimeter Cards

May 20, 2020

Author(s)

Vyacheslav B. Podobedov, Carl C. Miller, Alexander Romanyukha, Andrew Hoy

Thermoluminescence dosimeter cards purchased by the United States Navy in recent years have different radiation sensitivities, e.g. they exhibit a different

Tools and Instruments

Awards

Brian Simonds, Kyle Rogers, Ivan Ryger, Joshua Hadler, Paul Williams, Alexandra Artusio-Glimpse, John Lehman, Nathan Tomlin, and Ari Feldman

R&D 100 Award - PhotoForce Project

The R&D 100 Awards have served as the most prestigious innovation awards program for the past 55 years, honoring great R&D pioneers and...

Radiation

SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT: RADIOMETRIC DATING

News and Updates

NIST Unveils New Laboratory Building for Improved National Radiation Measurements

EBIT’s Improved X-ray Vision Promises Astronomical Insights

Photonic Radiation Sensors Survive Huge Doses Undamaged

The Shape in Water

Projects and Programs

Carrier Dynamics Measured by Ultrafast Time-Resolved Terahertz Spectroscopy

Ultrafast Molecular Switch Dynamics Examined by Mid-Infrared Femtosecond Spectroscopy (Archived)

Neutron Imaging for Advanced Catalyst Development and Durability Studies

Neutron Lifetime Measurement Using a Cold Neutron Beam

Publications

False Alarm Testing for Radiation Detection Systems

The Next Generation of Current Measurement for Ionization Chambers

Radionuclide calibrator responses for 224Ra in solution and adsorbed on calcium carbonate microparticles

Effect of Teflon® Transmittance on Sensitivity of Thermoluminescence Dosimeter Cards

Tools and Instruments

Beamline 2: Spectrometer Calibrations

Medical-Industrial Radiation Facility

Radiopharmaceutical Standardization Laboratory

Neutron Interferometry and Optics Facility (NIOF)

Awards

R&D 100 Award - PhotoForce Project