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Optical Properties of Materials
SUMMARY
This program in the Sensor Science Division of NIST is directed towards developing improved optical materials measurement technology and delivering improved measurements to the optics communities.
DESCRIPTION
Precise and accurate measurements of the optical properties of materials are essential for the advancement of optical technology and their applications. Such measurements include reflectance, transmittance, emittance, absorptance, and index of refraction. Many of these quantities depend upon the geometry (incident angles and/or viewing angles) and polarization. This division-wide, group-crossing program in the NIST Sensor Science Division is directed towards developing improved optical materials measurement technology and delivering improved measurements to the optics communities. Below are lists of staff, projects, instruments, and software associated with this program.
COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES
The Optical Properties of Materials program welcomes opportunities to collaborate on joint research, technology, and standards development projects to advance the characterization of the optical properties of materials. The group provides multiple opportunities for students, scientists, industry, academia, and other R&D laboratories to collaborate. Specific opportunities depend on current areas of interest within the program, but may include undergraduate research fellowship, postdoctoral fellowships, visiting scientist, and guest researchers as well as various cooperative research arrangements ranging from formal agreements, such as CRADAs, Consortia, and interagency agreements, to informal collaborations. For more details, see Employment and Internship Opportunities and Collaboration Opportunities.
STAFF
Principals
- David Allen, spectral reflectance, spectral and hyperspectral imaging
- John Burnett, index of refraction, birefringence
- Catherine Cooksey, spectrophotometry, reflectance, transmittance
- Braden Czapla, broadband complex refractive index, thermal radiation
- Thomas Germer, scattering, diffraction, polarization
- Aaron Goldfain, diffuse optical properties
- Ulf Griesmann, interferometry
- Maria Nadal, colorimetry, diffuse transmittance, gloss, reflectance
- Heather Patrick, spectrophotometry, reflectance calibrations
- Eric Shirley, theory of optical properties
Associates
- William Sparks, polarimetry for detection of life
PROJECTS
- Spectrophotometry
- Optical Grating Scatterometry
- Optical scattering from surfaces
- Color and Appearance
- Building the next generation reference reflectometer
- Reflectance measurements of human skin
- Hyperspectral Imaging Standards
- Hyperspectral Microscopy
- Index Properties of Optical Materials (0.12 μm - 15 μm)
- Birefringence Properties of Optical Materials (0.12 μm - 2 μm)
- Nano-Structured Optics and Optical Surface Metrology
- Infrared optical properties of materials and components
- Calculation of optical constants and dielectric response
- Diffraction effects in radiometry
- Optical medical imaging
- Theory of the optical properties of materials
- Optical Polarization Metrology
INSTRUMENTS
- Bidirectional Optical Scattering Facility
- Focused beam spectroscopic ellipsometer
- Reference 0:45 reflectometer
- Color and appearance metrology facility
- Five-axis goniometer for BRDF measurements
- Goniophotometer for specular gloss calibrations - Glossmeter
- Normal incidence Diffuse Optical Scatter Instrument (NDOSI)
- Reference transmittance densiometer
- Robotic Optical Scatter Instrument (ROSI)
- Reference Transmittance Spectrophotometer (RTS)
- Transfer spectrophotometer
- Complete hemispherical infrared laser-based reflectometer (CHILR)
- Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIS) facility
- Infrared reference integrating sphere (IRIS)
- System for infrared spectral emittance of materials
- Minimum-Deviation-Angle Refractometry System
SOFTWARE
Contacts
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(301) 975-2876