Nanoscale Device Characterization Division

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Atomic ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Precisely Measures Materials for Quantum Computers

July 6, 2020

It images single atoms. It maps atomic-scale hills and valleys on metal and insulating surfaces. And it records the flow of current across atom-thin materials

NIST Scientists Create New Recipe for Single-Atom Transistors

May 11, 2020

Once unimaginable, transistors consisting only of several-atom clusters or even single atoms promise to become the building blocks of a new generation of

Getting a closer look at living cells and batteries: a little bit of graphene goes a long way

March 6, 2020

Researchers at NIST have devised a way to eliminate a long-standing problem affecting our understanding of both living cells and batteries. When a solid and an

Roll-Up TVs and Bendable Smartphones: Toward More Choices for Flexible Electronic Materials

March 6, 2020

Have you heard of foldable smartphones? How about the flexible television screen that rolls up into a box? Or the ultrathin “wallpaper” TVs that are just

How Low Can You Go? Lower Than Ever Before

February 26, 2020

Silicon, the best-known semiconductor, is ubiquitous in electronic devices including cellphones, laptops and the electronics in cars. Now, researchers at the

A Spin Wave Detective Story: NIST Researchers Verify Surprising Behavior in a 2D Magnet

February 18, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered a surprising feature in two-dimensional (2D) magnets, a new class of

Opposite sides of a quartz crystal resonator

Universe in the Balance

February 12, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found a way to link measurements made by a device integral to microchip

STM image of electrons in two coupled quantum dots

What a Pair! Coupled Quantum Dots May Offer a New Way to Store Quantum Information

January 29, 2020

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have for the first time created and imaged a novel pair of quantum

Design in dark and light blue with a circular pattern surrounded by a square.

Spotlight: Silicon-28 in Quantum Computers

January 11, 2020

Silicon, found everywhere from the brick in your fireplace to the sand between your toes at the beach, also forms the basis of microchips in conventional

Probing the Origin of Alzheimer’s . . . with Transistors

August 7, 2019

A prime suspect in the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases is a normally benign enzyme that is essential to proper development of the nervous system

Building a Better Lithium Ion Source to Build a Better FIB

April 22, 2019

Eight years ago, NIST researchers developed a groundbreaking microscope that uses a narrow beam of low-energy lithium ions, rather than a beam of light or

Researchers Explore Energy-saving Catalysts that Operate at Room Temperature

April 15, 2019

NIST researchers have explored in unprecedented detail a new breed of catalysts that allow some chemical reactions, which normally require high heat, to proceed

After 90 Years, a Better Way to Measure the Composition of Paper

February 14, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), have developed a

Transparent image shaped like wedding cake atop a honeycomb-like lattice with green squiggly lines

A Novel Graphene Quantum Dot Structure Takes the Cake

August 23, 2018

In a marriage of quantum science and solid-state physics, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used magnetic fields to

The Shape in Water

July 23, 2018

Tinkering with a method they helped develop over the last few years, scientists have for the first time used it to measure at the nanometer scale the

illustration. gray disk. green rods come up from the disk.

Hanging by a Nanowhisker

May 9, 2018

If Alexander Yulaev and his colleagues had their druthers, they’d do away with whiskers altogether. These scientists don’t have anything against facial hair

Alan Band working to install Yagi antenna on roof of AML Bldg.

Obituary: CNST Remembers Alan Band

April 18, 2018

Alan Band, an electrical engineer at NIST for more than 25 years who won the Institute’s Colleagues’ Choice award and was celebrated for his ability to mentor

Blazing a Path for Buried Bits in Quantum Chips

April 10, 2018

NIST researchers have pioneered a process that drastically simplifies fabrication of the kind of nanoscale microchip features that may soon form the basis of a

Illustration of flat memristor device resting on titanium dioxide surface, with yellow electron beam impinging on memristor and ejecting electrons (balls of different colors).

Thanks for the Memory: NIST Takes a Deep Look at Memristors

January 18, 2018

In the race to build a computer that mimics the massive computational power of the human brain, researchers are increasingly turning to memristors, which can

Two rectangular boxes with oblong shapes in the center of each in red, green and fuscia

Microwave-Based Test Method Can Help Keep 3-D Chip Designers’ Eyes Open

November 28, 2017

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have invented a new approach to testing multilayered, three-dimensional computer chips

NIST Finds Many Protective Glasses Do Not Meet Specs for Shielding Light from Ultrafast Lasers

November 28, 2017

High-power, ultrafast pulsed lasers increasingly supply light for biomedical applications and imaging, materials processing, industrial micromachining and more

New Insights on ‘Captured’ Electrons Could Improve Flash Memory

November 7, 2017

An entirely new model of the way electrons are briefly trapped and released in tiny electronic devices suggests that a long-accepted, industry-wide view is just

Need Entangled Atoms? Get 'Em FAST! With NIST’s New Patent-Pending Method

November 7, 2017

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have come up with a way to link a group of atoms’ quantum mechanical properties among

Atomic-Scale Movies Reveal That Catalyst Nanoparticles Undergo Internal Changes to Forge Carbon Nanotubes

September 20, 2017

Lights, camera, catalysis! Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made some of the first movies of the structural

Orange disk resonator with waveguide to right and nanoscale probe to left.

NIST Researchers Revolutionize the Atomic Force Microscope

September 12, 2017

Most measuring instruments are limited by the tradeoff between how precisely and how rapidly a measurement is made: the more precise the measurement, the longer

Advanced communications
-Open Radio Access Network (Open-RAN)
-Quantum communications
-Spectrum sharing
-Wireless (RF)
Bioscience
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--Biological data
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-Biomanufacturing
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--Biosurveillance
--Genomic cybersecurity
--Nucleic acid sequence screening
-Cell measurements
-Engineering / synthetic biology
--Biofabrication
--Cell-free systems
--Genome engineering
--Protein engineering
-Gene delivery systems
-Genome editing
-Genomics
-Glycomics
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-Microbial measurements
-Proteomics
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Buildings and Construction
-Building codes and standards
-Building control systems
-Building damage and repair
-Building economics
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-Energy efficiency
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-Indoor air quality
-Structural engineering
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Chemistry
-Analytical chemistry
-Chemical engineering and processing
-Chemical thermodynamics and chemical properties
-Molecular characterization
-Theoretical chemistry and modeling
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Electronics
-Electromagnetics
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-Organic electronics
-Semiconductors
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Energy
-Alternative energy
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-Electric power / smart grid
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Environment
-Air / water / soil quality
-Climate Measurements
-Environmental health
-Greenhouse gas measurements
-Marine science
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Fire
-Fire detection
-Fire dynamics and science
-Fire fighting
-Fire modeling
-Fire risk reduction
-Materials flammability
-Structural fire resistance
-Wildland urban interface fire
Forensic Science
-Digital evidence
-Drugs and toxicology
-Firearms and toolmarks
-Forensic biometrics
-Forensic genetics
-Trace evidence
Health
-Biopharmaceuticals
-Cell and gene therapy
-Clinical diagnostics
--Cancer
--Medical imaging
-Food and nutrition
-Human microbiome
-Precision medicine
-Regenerative medicine and advanced therapy
--Flow cytometry
Information technology
-Artificial intelligence
--AI measurement and evaluation
--Applied AI
--Fundamental AI
--Hardware for AI
--Machine learning
--Trustworthy and responsible AI
-Biometrics
-Cloud computing and virtualization
-Complex systems
-Computational science
-Conformance testing
-Cyber-physical systems
--Smart cities
-Cybersecurity
--Cryptography
--Cybersecurity education and workforce development
--Cybersecurity measurement
--Identity and access management
--Privacy engineering
--Risk management
--Securing emerging technologies
--Trustworthy networks
--Trustworthy platforms
-Data and informatics
--Human language technology
--Information retrieval
--Natural language processing
-Federal information processing standards (FIPS)
-Health IT
-Internet of Things (IoT)
-Interoperability testing
-Location based services
-Mobile
-Networking
--Mobile and wireless networking
--Network management and monitoring
--Network modeling and analysis
--Network security and robustness
--Network test and measurement
--Next generation networks
--Protocol design and standardization
--Software defined and virtual networks
-Privacy
-Software research
--Software testing
-Usability and human factors
--Accessibility
-Video analytics
-Virtual / augmented reality
-Visualization research
-Voting systems
Infrastructure
Manufacturing
-Additive manufacturing
-Factory communications
-Factory operations planning and control
-Interoperability in manufacturing
-Machining
-Manufacturing economics
-Manufacturing quality assurance
-Manufacturing systems design and analysis
-Monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics
-Process improvement
-Process measurement and control
-Product data
-Robotics in manufacturing
--Agility and adaptability
--Collaborative robots
--Dexterous grasping
--Manipulation
--Mobility and industrial autonomous vehicles
--Navigation / actuation / control
--Sensing and perception
-Supply chain
-Sustainable manufacturing
-Systems engineering
-Systems integration
-Technology commercialization
Materials
-Ceramics
-Composites
-Concrete / cement
-Materials characterization
--Composition and structure
--Mechanical properties
--Thermal properties
-Metals
-Modeling and computational material science
-Polymers
-Superconductors
Mathematics and statistics
-Experiment design
-Image and signal processing
-Modeling and simulation research
-Numerical methods and software
-Statistical analysis
-Uncertainty quantification
Metrology
-Amount of substance
-Dimensional metrology
-Electrical / electromagnetic metrology
-Flow metrology and rheology
-Force metrology
-Humidity metrology
-Ionizing radiation metrology
-Mass metrology
-Metric
-Optical / photometry / laser metrology
-Pressure and vacuum metrology
-Thermometry metrology
-Time and frequency metrology
-Weights and measures
Nanotechnology
-Nanobiotechnology
-Nanochemistry
-Nanoelectronics
-Nanofabrication / manufacturing
--Lithography
--Self-assembly
-Nanofluidics
-Nanomagnetics
-Nanomaterials
-Nanomechanics
-Nanometrology
-Nanophotonics
-Nanophysics
-Nanoplasmonics
Neutron research
Performance excellence
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-Best practices
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Physics
-Atomic / molecular / quantum
-Biological physics
-Condensed matter
-Electron physics
-Magnetics
-Nuclear physics
-Optical physics and communications
-Quantum information science
-Radiation
-Spectroscopy
-Thermodynamics
-Time and frequency
Public safety
-Chemical / Biological / Radiological / Nuclear / Explosives (CBRNE)
-First responder preparedness
-Law enforcement
-Public safety communications research
-Response robots
Resilience
-Community resilience
--Recovery
--Resilience metrics
-Disaster and failure studies
-Earthquake risk reduction
-Resilience economics
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Standards
-Accreditation
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-Reference materials
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Technology transfer
Transportation
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