Division Office

Farad and Impedance Metrology—This project aims to provide the world’s best basis for accurate impedance measurements by tying the U.S. legal system of electrical units to the International System of Units (SI) …

AC-DC Difference—The NIST ac-dc Difference Project provides U.S. industry with the essential link between ac and the corresponding dc electrical standards via a world-class calibration service, and through …

Micro- and Nano-Mechanical Systems—Micro- and nano-optomechanical systems are being investigated experimentally to bring these systems toward the quantum limit, study quantum behavior in these macroscopic systems and explore …

Quantum State Manipulation of Ultra-cold Atoms and Superconducting Devices—Theory is being developed and exploited for the quantum operation of laser-cooled and Bose condensed atoms as well as superconducting devices, such as Josephson junctions, and hybrid devices made …

Single Electron Coherence—CMOS-compatible Si-based SET quantum dots systems are being fabricated and electrically characterized at low temperature to explore the possibility of quantum coherent manipulation in Si-based …

Spectroscopy of Engineered Atoms—Experiments with atomic systems designed to have features more favorable for improved measurements of atomic properties and constants of nature.    

Uniform Realization of the Unit of Torque in the US—Torque measurements are used heavily during product assembly and testing throughout the aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing sectors. Uncertainty evaluations surrounding the measurements are …

Small Force Metrology—The Small Force Metrology project supports U.S. instrumentation vendors, academic researchers, government scientists, and a broad spectrum of industrial physicists, physical chemists, …

Redefinition of the Kilogram—This project will conduct the research and development required to support the international efforts to prepare for a future redefinition of the unit of mass - the kilogram - the last remaining SI …

Mechanical Metrology Program—Providing critical measurements of mass, force, vibration, and acoustics for a broad range of industries and aspects of everyday life. Such measurements establish uniformity and reliability for …

Mass 1 kg CCM Key Comparison—Serve as co-pilot with BIPM in conducting the CCM 1 kg mass international comparison.

Implement Robotic Mass Measurements in SP250 Services—This project will develop and implement the procedures required to have fully automated/robotic mass measurement services in the range from 1 mg to 64 kg and for solid density measurements of mass …

Automation Update of Force Laboratory Deadweight Machines—This project will update all NIST force laboratory automation hardware and software to maintain the current capability of force calibration services. Calibrations conducted at the …

CODATA values of the fundamental constants—Every four years, the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) issues recommended values of the fundamental physical constants. The values are determined by a least-squares adjustment, …

Precision Measurement Grants Program—Since 1970, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded Precision Measurement Grants to faculty members of U.S. universities or colleges for significant research in the …

Ultracold atoms and molecules —Theory for ultracold atomic and molecular collisions and interactions is being developed and exploited to gain precise control over these interactions through tunable magnetic, electric, or …

Quantum information technology and correlated photon radiometry—We develop methods and devices to further radiometric techniques and quantum information technology. This includes developing and characterizing new sources with engineered single photon state …

Nonlinear Optics and Non-classical Light—Nonlinear optics provides a way to generate light with different frequencies and different quantum statistical properties. We have developed a nonlinear 4-wave mixing technology in atomic vapors …

Multi-Photon Laser Cooling—Laser cooling of atoms is a powerful and widely used tool in atomic physics. Traditional laser cooling relies primarily on the mechanical effect of single-photon transitions between ground states …

Quantum Computation and Simulation with Neutral Atoms—Quantum information processing seeks to use the features of quantum physics to accomplish otherwise intractable computational tasks. The two main thrusts of quantum information research we are …

Spinor Condensates and Ultracold Collisions—Interactions between cold atoms can provide us with the means to manipulate matter on the smallest scales. Collisions between laser-cooled atoms, in particular amongst those in Bose-Einstein …

International System of Units (SI)—The International System of Units (SI) provides definitions of units of measurement that are widely accepted in science and technology and which set measurement standards agreed to through the …

Light-matter Interactions in Semiconductor Nanostructures—The quantum optics of light interacting with semiconductor-based nanostructures is being studied to extend concepts of entanglement and coherence in atomic physics to solid-state systems such as …

Designing the Nanoworld: Nanostructures, Nanodevices, and Nanooptics—Nanoscale theory of the electronic, optical and mechanical properties of ultrasmall structures, devices and their dynamical operation and the nanooptics of these systems is being developed to …

Applied Quantum Information Science—Theory is being developed and used to devise methods for preserving and exploiting the quantum behavior of ever-larger systems and finding potential roles for these systems in …

Fabry-Perot displacement interferometry—High-resolution Fabry-Perot interferometry is being developed and employed for mechanical displacement metrology, linking optical measurements to the atomic time standard using laser frequency combs.

Fabrication and Metrology of Novel Magnetic Tunnel Junctions in the Ultra-thin Barrier Limit—Magnetic tunnel junctions, nanostructured by highly charged ions, are being probed and characterized to establish the foundation for novel magnetic random access memory architectures expected to …

Advanced Linear and Nonlinear Optical Metrology in support of next-generation Lithography—High precision linear and nonlinear optics of next-generation lithographic techniques is measured and characterized to enable these technologies.

Improved quantitative medical CT imaging—Develop precision calibration standards for accurate determination of feature sizes in computed tomography images, to improve reliability of measurements of drug response, thus reducing time and …

Atomic Spectroscopy Data Center —Critical compilations of atomic energy levels, transition wavelengths, and transition probabilities. Online databases.

Electronic Kilogram—This project provides the basis for a new definition of mass, based on unchanging quantum properties of nature rather than a physical artifact.  This is accomplished through a …

Electric Power Metrology and the Smart Grid—Our country's way of life depends on the electric power distribution system. Keeping the national electric grid in good working order -- and ensuring power is measured accurately and billed …

Quantum Conductance Project/Graphene-Based Quantum Metrology —The goal of the Quantum Conductance Project is to develop graphene metrology for intrinsic electrical standards, specifically near-room-temperature quantum Hall resistance standards.  …

Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) Facility—The NIST EBIT Facility is used to investigate the science and applications of highly charged ions.

Quantum Physics Theory—Theoretical work relevant to the determination of values of the fundamental constants, tests of bound-state quantum electrodynamics (QED), and methods of numerical analysis are included among the …

Technical Highlights Atomic Physics Division—The strategy of the Atomic Physics Division is to develop and apply atomic physics research methods, and particulary the interaction between atoms and electromagnetic fields, to achieve fundamental …

High-Resolution Atomic Spectroscopy—Accurate measurements of atomic transitions using diffraction grating spectrographs, Fourier transform spectrometers, and laser spectroscopy.

Plasma Metrology—Measurement techniques in support of commercial and scientific uses of plasmas.

Metrology of the Ohm—Resistance standards traceable to NIST provide references for measurements of current at levels from 2000 A to below 1 pA and are used to support a wide variety of impedance, temperature, strain, …