Nanophysics

News and Updates

With Some Bumps, NIST Scientists Devise a Novel Way to Extend the Wavelength Range of Microcombs

June 5, 2024

Microcombs – chip-scale devices that generate and measure frequencies of light with exquisite accuracy – have transformed timekeeping and boosted optical

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

Do the Bump: NIST Scientists Perfect Miniaturized Technique to Generate Precise Wavelengths of Visible Laser Light

November 28, 2023

In research, sometimes the bumpy path proves to be the best one. By creating tiny, periodic bumps in a miniature racetrack for light, researchers at the

Projects and Programs

PTIR combines the spatial resolution of AFM with the specificity of absorption spectroscopy

Nano-Chemical Imaging and -Spectroscopy (IR, nIR, VIS)

Ongoing

The aim of this project is twofold: 1) improve the PTIR measurement (spectral range, signal to noise ratio, throughput, time resolution, information content, range of environmental conditions) and 2) apply PTIR to characterize nanomaterials in important applications. Examples or recent PTIR

Video microscopic image - Rotation and translation.

Control of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Nanoscale Manipulation of Fluids and Materials (Archived)

Completed

Low Reynolds number swimming, or motion through a viscous fluid, is a technique at which nature is adept. Bacteria, protists, and algal cells live in a regime where viscous effects dominate inertial ones. As these microscale biological swimmers move, they perturb the fluid around them, affecting

Fabrication and Metrology of Novel Magnetic Tunnel Junctions in the Ultra-thin Barrier Limit

Completed

Within a broader program of exploring methods to fabricate structures with novel electronic properties at the nanometer scale, we are using highly charged ions (HCIs) to produce ensembles of nano-features within magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Technologically, MTJs are a major component of

Measuring the Magneto-Electronic Properties of Graphene on the Nanometer Scale

Ongoing

The energy spectrum of graphene's charge carriers is very different from ordinary metals and semiconductors. The conduction and valance bands meet at conical points, where the carriers have an energy that is linear in momentum, giving rise to a zero effective mass [Fig.1(a)]. This dispersion is

Publications

Fermi-Level Pinning in ErAs Nanoparticles Embedded in III–V Semiconductors

April 9, 2024

Author(s)

Garnett W. Bryant, Ruiqi Hu, Dai Ho, Quang To, Anderson Janotti

Embedding rare-earth pnictide (RE-V) nanoparticles into III-V semiconductors enables unique optical, electrical, and thermal properties, with applications in

Metrology for 2D materials: a perspective review from the international roadmap for devices and systems

April 8, 2024

Author(s)

Albert Davydov, Yaw S. Obeng, Ndubuisi George Orji, Umberto Celano, Daniel Schmidt, Carlos Beitia

The international roadmap of devices and systems (IRDS) projects that 2D materials will be inserted into high-volume manufacturing as channel materials, mostly

Nagaoka Ferromagnetism in 3 × 3 Arrays and Beyond

April 5, 2024

Author(s)

Yan Li, Keyi Liu, Garnett W. Bryant

Nagaoka ferromagnetism (NF) is a long-predicted example of itinerant ferromagnetism (IF) in the Hubbard model that has been studied theoretically for many years

Single-particle approach to many-body relaxation dynamics

February 26, 2024

Author(s)

Garnett W. Bryant, Marta Pelc, David Dams, Abhishek Ghosh, Miriam Kosik, Marvin Muller, Carsten Rockstuhl, Andres Ayuela, Karolina Slowik

This study addresses the challenge of modeling relaxation dynamics in quantum many-body systems, specifically focusing on electrons in graphene nanoflakes

Tools and Instruments

Local Electrode Atom Probe Tomography (LEAP)

Field evaporates (with a voltage and laser pulse) a sharp tip-shaped specimen. Collects the ionization products in a position-sensitive, time-of-flight mass