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Physical Measurement Laboratory

News and Updates

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JILA Extends Laser 'Combing' Method to Identify Large, Complex Molecules

May 4, 2016

BOULDER, Colo. – JILA physicists have extended the capability of their powerful laser "combing" technique to identify the structures of large, complex molecules

CNST Releases the Spring 2016 Edition of the CNST News

April 27, 2016

The NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) is pleased to announce the release of the Spring 2016 edition of The CNST News. This quarterly

New Chip-Based Sensor Finds Power in Versatility

April 26, 2016

Whether you're using a landline or cell phone, there's a good chance that the signal spends at least some time traveling over fiber-optic cables. To ensure that

NIST's Million-Pound Weight Stack Restoration is Complete

April 25, 2016

It's official: NIST's 4.45-million newton (equivalent to one million pounds-force) deadweight machine – the largest in the world – is back in one piece after a

Head to Head: Photonic Pressure Sensors vs. Mercury-Based Standard

April 21, 2016

When a team of researchers at NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) first tested a new kind of pressure sensor two years ago, initial results showed it

NIST Could Help Keep Sequestered Carbon From Blowin' in the Wind

April 20, 2016

Capturing carbon dioxide gas and storing it underground is a promising strategy for reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Scientists at the National

False-color scanning electron micrograph of a nanophotonic frequency converter

New Nanodevice Shifts Light's Color at Single-Photon Level

April 18, 2016

Converting a single photon from one color, or frequency, to another is an essential tool in quantum communication, which harnesses the subtle correlations

new instrument for accelerometer testing

Precision Testing for MEMS Accelerometers

April 8, 2016

They activate airbags. Keep aircraft correctly positioned in flight. Detect earthquakes or sudden vibrations in failing machinery. Guide military hardware

Newly Patented NIST Technique Creates Precisely Sized Nanocontainers Useful for Drug Delivery

April 7, 2016

What if doctors could deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to tumors without making patients sick? Bringing this dream of targeted drug delivery closer to reality

Improving CD-AFM Measurements from the Tip Down

March 31, 2016

As the sizes of computer chips in electronic devices continue to shrink, traditional measurement tools (e.g., microscopes utilizing visible light) are no longer

Neutron Microscope: Waiting for the Lens to Come

March 30, 2016

When the world's first workhorse neutron microscope – currently being designed and built by a collaboration including NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory

Multilingual Circuit: NIST's "Optomechanical Transducer" Links Sound, Light and Radio Waves

March 28, 2016

Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a "piezo-optomechanical circuit" that converts signals among

NIST Develops First Widely Useful Measurement Standard for Breast Cancer MRI

March 23, 2016

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed the first widely useful standard for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of

NIST Creates Fundamentally Accurate Quantum Thermometer

March 15, 2016

Better thermometers might be possible as a result of a discovery at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where physicists have found a way

Images of yeast cells and silver dendrites.

New Microwave Imaging Approach Opens a Nanoscale View on Processes in Liquids

March 15, 2016

U.S. government nanotechnology researchers have demonstrated a new window to view what are now mostly clandestine operations occurring in soggy, inhospitable

New Tool for Breast Cancer Screening

March 14, 2016

A little over three years ago, NIST scientist Katy Keenan came back from a conference with an ambitious idea: to improve the quality of magnetic resonance

Not So Fast: Overlooked Resistance May Inflate Estimates of Organic-Semiconductor Performance

March 10, 2016

It's hardly a character flaw, but organic transistors—the kind envisioned for a host of flexible electronics devices—behave less than ideally, or at least not

NIST's Internet Time Service Serves the World

March 8, 2016

The Internet Time Service operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) serves much of the Earth, with customers from around the globe

Quantum Spin Squeezing Gets Real

February 26, 2016

Today's atomic clocks are ridiculously accurate. The best of them tell time so well that if they had been running since the Big Bang, by now they would not have

Getting Hyperspectral Imaging Ready for the Rain Forest

February 24, 2016

Hyperspectral images allow humans to see what otherwise might be invisible. Unlike ordinary cameras, which record information in each of three broad color bands

Vaccine Fridge Field Study 'Opens Doors' to New Standards

February 23, 2016

Recipients of an annual flu shot may be surprised to learn that there is currently no official standard for vaccine storage equipment in clinics, pharmacies

Better Accuracy Out of Thin (or Thick) Air

February 17, 2016

NIST scientists have devised and improved a prototype instrument the size of a loaf of bread that can substantially increase the accuracy of length measurements

Shedding Light on Dark Matter with SQUIDs

February 16, 2016

Perhaps fortunately, most folks haven't noticed that 85% of the Milky Way is missing: The kind of familiar, ordinary matter we know – made up of protons

Transforming Welding with Comprehensive NIST Metrology

February 2, 2016

Welding has been around, in some form, for centuries. Today it enables a large percentage of the U.S. economy,* thanks to its role in the creation of a diverse

Shiny and (Electro)chrome: New Twist on Old Tech Could Bring Living Color at Low Power

February 2, 2016

By marrying state-of-the-art nanometer-scale gratings with a Space Age-era thin-film polymer, researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and

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