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Projects/Programs

    Displaying 1 - 20 of 20

    Absolute cryogenic infrared radiometry at the LBIR facility

    Ongoing
    The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), and subsequently the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), have motivated NIST's work developing calibration methods and standards for space-based sensors used in missile

    BIB-trap detector

    Ongoing
    Limitations of Standard BIB Detectors Currently available BIB detectors exhibit excellent detectivity, but are limited in their use for spectral calibrations by detection inefficiency and spectral response inhomogeneity. The maximum quantum efficiency of these doped silicon devices is near 60%

    Calculation of optical constants and dielectric response

    Ongoing
    By optical properties, we mean those of the following sort: the index of refraction n and the index of absorption k, from which one can calculate the dielectric function, loss function, absorption coefficient, reflectance, and so forth from standard formulas. All of these quantities, it should be

    Diffraction effects in radiometry

    Ongoing
    Essentially, classical radiometry relies on geometrical optics (to relate source radiance), geometrical aspects of an optical layout, and the irradiance at the detector. One considers the propagation of radiation from points on the surface of the source to points on the surface of the detector. In

    Electron-Solid Interactions

    Ongoing
    A measuring instrument produces a signal that depends upon the value of the measurand. The value and its uncertainty are inferred from the signal by using a model of their relationship. Erroneous models lead to erroneous inference. The accuracy of SEM (scanning electron microscopy) is limited by

    EUV Scatterometry

    Ongoing
    To measure and inspect the smallest printed features on an IC chip, researchers and manufacturers use a combination of electron scanning modalities (i.e., transmission electron and scanning electron microscopies) and an optical method, scatterometry. Industrially, the most common modality for

    FOREST

    Ongoing
    The goals of the research are to: Provide a testbed (Forested Optical Reference for Evaluating Sensor Technology, FOREST) for ecophysiological and optical sensors with well-established reference points Quantify ecosystem phenomenology that will allow for better estimates of productivity Link leaf

    Hyperspectral Image Projector (HIP)

    Ongoing
    Remote sensing instruments and medical imagers are designed to take images composed of many spectral bands, not just the minimum three components used by common digital cameras (i.e., red, green, and blue). These images are referred to as hyperspectral because each pixel contains information for

    Hyperspectral Imaging Standards

    Ongoing
    There has been a surge in interest in hyperspectral imaging for the use in environmental monitoring, medical imaging, and manufacturing, as several examples. Standards provide common reference points that foster an understanding between different entities. The range of standards encompass all

    Hyperspectral Microscopy

    Ongoing
    NIST has developed a laboratory dedicated to measuring the optical properties of materials through the use of commercial and custom hyperspectral imagers. The custom built hyperspectral imaging microscope covers the 400 nm to 2500 nm spectral range using narrow contiguous spectral bands. This system

    Infrared cryogenic blackbody broadband calibration

    Ongoing
    The broadband chamber and the spectral calibration chamber at the LBIR facility are used for calibrating the customer cryogenic blackbodies. These chambers are cooled by closed cycle helium gas at 20 K to provide a background equivalent to space. The absolute cryogenic radiometers (ACRs) in these

    Infrared optical properties of materials and components

    Ongoing
    Our overall program can be summarized by the following 6 key elements: Provide a traceability path to national scales for infrared optical properties to the infrared optical properties community through, NIST Calibration Service 38075S, Standard Reference Materials, cooperative research and

    Lunar Spectral Irradiance (LUSI)

    Ongoing
    Earth observing satellite sensors were once the exclusive domain of large satellite platforms used by government agencies for the purpose of national security, defense, weather prediction and disaster mitigation. These satellites typically carry onboard radiometric calibrators that along with pre

    NIST Stars

    Ongoing
    Several current astrophysical research programs require SI traceable flux measurements (also called spectral irradiance) at accuracies higher than currently available. For example, exoplanet research requires improved host star absolute brightness knowledge to better determine habitability

    Optical medical imaging

    Ongoing
    Optical medical imaging technologies proliferate in academic research and yet very few translate into the clinic. Optical techniques have high spatial and spectral resolution, lends itself to portability, and inexpensive relative to conventional imaging modalities such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance

    Pico-Watt ACR

    Ongoing
    Design Parameters for Improved ACR Sensitivity An absolute cryogenic radiometer (ACR) is an electrical substitution instrument for calibrating optical power. A bolometer designed so that virtually all incident optical power is absorbed by the radiometer, an ACR allows for absolute calibration

    Primary optical watt radiometer (POWR)

    Ongoing
    The POWR, including the detector module, was completely designed by NIST to have the versatility to grow with NIST's needs and embrace new technologies. It provides optical power measurements with uncertainties of 0.01 % ( k=1), which have been verified by an intercomparison with two other cryogenic

    Theory of the optical properties of materials

    Ongoing
    Around 1998, first-principles calculation of optical constants and dielectric response began to include excitonic effects. Beginning with simple, wide-gap insulators and semiconductors, the field has progressed to studying more complex materials, clusters, and so forth. In the area of core

    Transfer radiometers and reference detectors

    Ongoing
    Use of these radiometers depends on a primary standard detector and a secondary transfer detector. We generally employ an absolute cryogenic radiometer (ACR) as the primary standard detector to calibrate the transfer detector, a Si:As blocked-impurity-band (BIB) detector. The transfer detector is