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Physical Measurement Laboratory / Sensor Science Division

Fundamental Thermodynamics Group

Projects/Programs

Displaying 1 - 11 of 11
cold atom thermometer (CAT) experiment

Atomic Thermometers

Ongoing
Approach 1 Compact Blackbody Radiation Atomic Sensor (CoBRAS) The Compact Blackbody Radiation Atomic Sensor (CoBRAS) uses a thermal vapor of atoms excited by a single laser to detect BBR. From the optically excited state, atomic population is transferred to other, nearby excited states by a
background molecule

Cold Core Technology Platform

Ongoing
Cold atoms can be useful sensors for a host of different phenomena including inertial forces like acceleration and rotation, gravity, magnetic fields, vacuum and time. However, most of these applications are still confined to the laboratory. Building robust, field-deployable quantum sensors made
Illustration of Doppler thermometry

Deployable Doppler Thermometry

Ongoing
Accurate temperature measurements are essential to many industrial processes, including petrochemical or pharmaceutical production and nuclear power generation. Typical process control thermometers, such as resistance temperature detectors, are known to drift over time and degrade when subject to
photo of membrane in shock tube

Dynamic Pressure

Ongoing
Measurement Platform: We are developing a photonics based dynamic pressure measurement platform that will enable traceable, accurate measurement of dynamic pressure. To this end we are developing fast scanning laser absorption spectroscopy techniques that enable rapid measurement of pressure

Machine Learning Driven Self-correcting Autonomous Metrology Systems (SAMS)

Ongoing
While NIST-on-a-Chip has produced quantum and nanophotonic measurement solutions that can significantly reduce calibration frequency, their transition from laboratory to marketplace depends on seamless integration into user workflows. Our research addresses a fundamental challenge: maintaining
Optical microscope image of a silicon nitride trampoline pressure sensor

Optomechanical Pressure Sensing

Ongoing
Measurement and control of high-vacuum pressure is important for many industrial processes, particularly semiconductor fabrication. Typical process pressure monitors are known to lose accuracy over time and so require repetitive calibration. Pressure transfer standards that support high-vacuum and
photonic calorimeter/dosimeter

Photonic Dosimetry

Ongoing
With this effort, NIST is responding to industry needs for traceable, measurement solutions that can resolve spatial variations of absorbed dose at the level of individual components on a silicon wafer or bacteria on surgical instruments. Presently, there is only limited traceability to national
SPoT chip

Photonic Thermometry

Ongoing
Why do we need reliable temperature metrology? Temperature, the second most measured physical property after time and frequency, is indispensable to innumerable industries, military services, medicine, climate, and weather forecasts – precise, accurate, and rapid temperature metrology enables much
Platform for Realizing Integrated Molecule Experiments

Platform for Realizing Integrated Molecule Experiments (PRIME)

Ongoing
Blackbodies realize a clear relationship between radiated power and temperature through Planck’s law. While a reliable instrument for temperature and power calibrations, blackbodies are afflicted with a plethora of systematics (e.g., non-ideal emissivity, propagation loss, temperature gradients
pressure measurement items

Pressure/Vacuum Calibrations

Ongoing
Piston Gauge (29010C - 29040S) This service provides calibrated secondary standard piston gauges, calibrated electronic pressure instruments, and special tests of customer supplied piston gauges. Measurements of pressure are available for submitted calibration items for the range from 10 kPa to 280
FLOC

Quantum Pascal: Fixed Length Optical Cavity (FLOC) Pressure Standards

Ongoing
This project enables a quantum-based, SI-traceable method for realizing the pascal (Pa) while improving accuracy and allowing the replacement of existing mercury manometer pressure standards. The Fixed Length Optical Cavity (FLOC) pressure standard is a laser-based, SI-traceable primary pressure