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Projects/Programs

Displaying 26 - 50 of 79

High Amplification Laser-pressure Optic (HALO)

Ongoing
We have assembled a high-accuracy laser power meter based on radiation pressure with multiple reflections of the laser on the sensing mirror. A custom electrostatic force balance supports a high-reflectivity sensing mirror upon which a high-power continuous wave laser beam is incident at ~ 45

High-Power Laser Applications

Ongoing
Measurement challenges Traditional measurements of laser power or energy involve absorbing the laser light and measuring the resulting temperature increase of the absorber. However, as the power and total energy delivered by these lasers increases, thermal management, absorber size, and response

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
The desire to monitor and understand changes in the Earth's climate has led to increasingly challenging radiometric accuracy requirements for space-based remote sensing instruments. Low-uncertainty measurements are needed both to refine climate models and to monitor changes over decadal periods of

Measurement Techniques for Membranes and Membrane Proteins

Ongoing
Use of synthetic cell membrane mimics allow simplification and complete control of a complicated system, and incorporation of selected elements under physiological conditions. We are furthering a technology originally developed at NIST using model lipid membranes supported on surfaces for

Metal Additive Manufacturing Laser Power Assessment

Ongoing
A calibrated (U=1.2 %, k=2) power meter was taken to a variety of AM locations (industry, academic, government, DoD) to anonymously assess the accuracy with which these institutions know the laser power being delivered to the workpiece. At each site, the LPBF operator was asked to use the AM system

Metrology of Dim Light Sources

Ongoing
“What is the lowest amount of light that this instrument can detect?” is an important yet unmet measurement challenge. Evaluating the detection performance of complicated imaging instruments is crucial to quantifying substances of interest and the ability to compare results across instruments

Metrology for extreme ultraviolet lithography

Ongoing
Patterning with light 13 nm brings a host a new challenges Light at 13 nm is well within the vacuum ultraviolet, where radiation is strongly absorbed by all materials. This requires that the technology take place in vacuum and rely on mirrors rather than lenses. Moreover generating sufficient

Metrology for Multi-Physics AM Model Validation

Completed
Objective To provide reference data for the validation of multi-physics models of metal additive manufacturing processes to enable improvement of AM process models and more rapid and predictable process development for AM production by manufacturers. What is the Technical Idea? The Metrology for

Metrology for Real-Time Monitoring of Additive Manufacturing

Completed
Objective To develop and disseminate metrology methods, tools, data, and standards applied to in-situ monitoring of AM processes, such that manufacturers and their customers can accurately and precisely determine the quality of the fabrication process and resulting parts. What is the Technical Idea

Micro- and nano-optomechanical systems

Ongoing
Our primary current research direction involves the use of fabricated devices with sub-wavelength periodicity (photonic crystals) as optomechanical elements. Such structures enable a rich variety of devices, including mirrors, polarizers, and filters, in a configuration that couples naturally to

Modeling and Simulation of Nanofabrication (Archived)

Completed
While self-assembly is still in its relative infancy with respect to practical use, with much additional research required to reach maturity, the more widely utilized top-down methods will continue to require advances and modifications to improve current nanomanufacturing techniques. This modeling

Nano-Structured Optics and Optical Surface Metrology

Ongoing
Ultra-precise optics are essential to innovations in many high-tech areas, such as scientific imaging applications ranging from microscopy to astronomy, semiconductor manufacturing, medical imaging technology, defense, homeland security, consumer products, communication and information technology

Night Vision Goggle Gain Calibration

Ongoing
NIST cooperates with the three services (Air Force, Navy, and Army) to realize a uniform night vision goggle (NVG) calibration system with low measurement uncertainty. These efforts include transferring the NIST detector-based radiance and luminance responsivity scales to the primary standards

NIST Automated Vehicles Program

Ongoing
Measurement science and standards are needed to support the safe and predictable operation of future automated vehicles (AVs), which have great potential to significantly impact our daily lives and improve the competitiveness of our economy. A FY22 NIST Strategic and Emerging Research Initiatives

NIST Stars

Ongoing
A wide range of scientific and technical fields will benefit from having SI traceable stellar radiometric flux measurements (SI Stars). Weather and climate research satellites could use SI Stars for on orbit calibration of their spectroradiometers and astronomers could use them to calibrate

Optical grating scatterometry

Ongoing
In the past few years, scatterometry has emerged as a method for performing linewidth and line profile metrology, especially by the semiconductor industry. The method uses a periodic target containing repetitive lines whose profile, i.e., its width, height, and shape, is to be determined. The

Optical medical imaging

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