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Physical Measurement Laboratory

Quantum Measurement Division

News and Updates

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Progress Report with Photos: Restoration of NIST's Million-Pound Deadweight Machine

June 30, 2015

Restoration is well underway for NIST's 4.45-million newton (equivalent to one million pounds-force) deadweight machine, the largest in the world. The three

NIST Tightens the Bounds on the Quantum Information 'Speed Limit'

April 14, 2015

If you're designing a new computer, you want it to solve problems as fast as possible. Just how fast is possible is an open question when it comes to quantum

Novel Neutron Detector Makes Scintillating Debut

March 9, 2015

A team of researchers has successfully demonstrated a new design concept for a neutron detector that does not rely – as nearly all current models do – on a

New Accelerometer Calibration Service to Start Soon

February 19, 2015

In a few weeks, NIST will begin offering a new, state-of-the-art calibration service for accelerometers. Based on a technique called laser interferometry, the

Restoration Begins on NIST's Million-Pound Deadweight Machine

January 27, 2015

For the first time in half a century, NIST's 4.45-million newton (equivalent to one million pounds-force) deadweight machine – the largest in the world – is

NIST Sensor Could Improve One of Nano Research's Most Useful Microscopes

December 16, 2014

Spotting molecule-sized features—common in computer circuits and nanoscale devices—may become both easier and more accurate with a sensor developed at the

Low Error-Rate Detector System for Telecommunications

December 2, 2014

NIST scientists have devised an experimental photon-detection system for communications with error rates far below even the most ideal conventional designs

Trouble with a Capital 'G'

October 27, 2014

NIST has taken part in a new push to address a persistent and growing problem in physics: the value of G. The Newtonian constant of gravitation, used to

Photons by the Numbers

September 25, 2014

A NIST team is at work on what promises to be one of the world's most accurate methods for generating a specified number of photons, and has devised a method to

It's a Dynamic World, Now NIST Can Help You Measure Its Changes

August 1, 2014

Crash-test dummies, yarn-spinning machines and steel girders in bridges. What do they have in common? Look inside them all and you find transducers, devices

Rush a Light Wave and You'll Break Its Data, say NIST Scientists

May 29, 2014

Quantum information can't break the cosmic speed limit, according to researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the

New SPAD Control System: High Efficiency, Low Noise

May 16, 2014

By employing a technique analogous to the operation of noise-canceling headphones, PML researchers have created an exquisitely sensitive, semiconductor-based

A New Beginning for the END: Detecting Neutrons with Light

April 15, 2014

In a truly scintillating set of experiments, scientists at NIST and the University of Maryland have demonstrated that a process called excimer* scintillation

Developing a 'Gold Standard' for Hall Resistance

April 7, 2014

PML researchers have developed a novel method of fabricating graphene-based microdevices that may hasten the arrival of a new generation of standards for

NIST Gives Astronomers a Better Ruler in the Search for Extrasolar Planets

March 26, 2014

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have rejuvenated a technique for finding planets near distant stars.* New measurements

Stirred, Then Shaken: NIST Atomtronic Study May Pave the Way for New Devices

February 19, 2014

While pursuing the goal of turning a cloud of ultracold atoms into a completely new kind of circuit element, physicists at the National Institute of Standards

Hysteresis in a Quantized BEC Superfluid

February 14, 2014

Scientists at NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory and the NIST-sponsored Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), with collaborators elsewhere, have observed a

double-paddle oscillator in its mounting, seen from below

Surface Detail: Oscillator to Explore Secrets of Mass Variation

January 30, 2014

It might seem that when the world agrees on a new definition of the kilogram based on a fixed value of a physical constant, as is expected soon, no one will

New Value for the Planck Constant May Hasten Electronic Kilogram

January 14, 2014

After two years of difficult and meticulous work examining, refurbishing, and testing the aging workhorse watt balance called NIST-3, PML researchers have used

NIST/JQI Team 'Gets the Edge' on Photon Transport in Silicon

October 22, 2013

Scientists have a new way to edge around a difficult problem in quantum physics, now that a research team from the National Institute of Standards and

New Photon Detector for Advanced Communications Knows When to Not Know

June 26, 2013

In some standardized tests, the graders add in a penalty factor for wrong answers to discourage students from randomly guessing. It turns out that there's a

High-Efficiency Photon Source Brings Day of Reckoning Closer for a Famous Quantum Test

June 25, 2013

Physicists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) are edging ever closer to getting really

New AC Voltage Devices: Factor of Three Improvement in Uncertainty

June 18, 2013

After years of effort and scores of iterations, PML researchers have developed a new generation of devices that can reduce the uncertainties in ac voltage

This artist’s conception shows atoms in a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) being pushed by laser light.

First Observation of Spin Hall Effect in a Quantum Gas Is Step Toward 'Atomtronics'

June 5, 2013

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have reported the first observation of the "spin Hall effect" in a Bose-Einstein

Don't Call It Vaporware: Scientists Use Cloud of Atoms as Optical Memory Device

April 3, 2013

Talk about storing data in the cloud. Scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the

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