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

Nanoscale Spectroscopy for Advanced Electronics, Quantum Materials and Devices

Ongoing

Semiconductor technologies are critical to U.S. economic and national security as they are essential to modern life in communications, healthcare, energy, etc. and also underpin many emerging technologies like quantum, artificial intelligence, high power electronics and advanced wireless (6G+). The

Multiscale structure and dynamics in advanced technological materials

Ongoing

New technologies increasingly harness materials phenomena that operate across many length-scales: e.g., in selective gas adsorption, additive manufacturing, new alloy designs, or advanced concretes. To overcome technology barriers, it is no longer sufficient just to characterize the materials

Designing the Nanoworld: Nanostructure, Nanodevices, and Nano-optics

Ongoing

Developing and exploiting nanodevices for quantum and nanotechnologies requires nanoscale and atomic scale modeling of ultrasmall structures, devices, their operation, and their response to probes. Key challenges of understanding physics at the quantum/classical interface and measurement at the

Nanotribology for Nanomanufacturing (Archived)

Completed

Friction and wear are major causes of mechanical failures and dissipative energy losses. These shortfalls account for a significant portion of the annual gross domestic product in the United States, amounting to approximately $800 billion in 2010. It is estimated that tens of billions of U.S

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

NIST PTIR Instrumentation and Capabilities

Photothermal induced resonance (PTIR) combines the spatial resolution of atomic force microscopy (AFM) with the specificity of absorption spectroscopy

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