Applied Physics Division

The Division's key competencies include radiometry, advanced communications, sensing, quantum measurements, quantitative imaging, spectroscopy, and laser safety. In addition, the Division operates a state-of-the-art precision imaging facility to characterize unique devices that improve measurement science, standards, and services. Division staff include world experts in laser metrology, quantum metrology, quantitative imaging, as well as photonic and magnetic applications. The Division's focus on a targeted set of technical challenges enables us to maximize impact and benefit from collaborations with industry, government, and university stakeholders.

Press Coverage

Combing a Herd for Methane Emissions

American Physical Society

June 8, 2020

Specialized light beams called frequency combs could help detect greenhouse-gas emissions from livestock with greater precision than existing methods.

Why Scientists and Artists Want The Blackest Substances on Earth

The Scene

January 27, 2020

To find out what's behind the quest for ultra-blacks, WIRED's Arielle Pardes talked with Applied Physics Division’s physicist John Lehman about these amazing

Taking Measure Blog

A Little Light Construction: Laser Welding in Three Acts

News and Updates

A man in safety glasses stands near a rack of equipment in a darkened lab.

Counting Photons Is Now Routine Enough to Need Standards

December 20, 2019

Since the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) built its first superconducting devices for counting photons (the smallest units of light) in

NIST Study Suggests Universal Method for Measuring Light Power

December 20, 2019

Always on the lookout for better ways to measure all kinds of things, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have published a

Square checkerboard with 32 squares on each side surrounded by sunbeam-like lines emanating out from around the board.

NIST’s Light-Sensing Camera May Help Detect Extraterrestrial Life, Dark Matter

November 19, 2019

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made one of the highest-performance cameras ever composed of sensors that count

NIST Research Sparks New Insights on Laser Welding

April 30, 2019

On its surface, the work is deceptively simple: Shoot a high-power laser beam onto a piece of metal for a fraction of a second and see what happens. But

Events

14th International Conference on New Developments and Applications in Optical Radiometry (NEWRAD 2021)

Mon, Jun 21 - Thu, Jun 24 2021

NIST is closely monitoring guidance from Federal, State, and local health authorities on the outbreak of COVID-19. To

Projects and Programs

Exposure Notification – protecting workplaces and vulnerable communities during a pandemic

The goal of this project is to utilize NIST expertise in privacy, cybersecurity, machine learning, wireless technology, ranging, modeling, and hardware and

Super-Continuum Laser Solar Simulator

This research leverages a new laser technology, the super-continuum laser, to produce a programmable solar simulator that can rapidly configure to match nearly

Fiber Sources and Applications

Optical frequency combs convert a laser source containing a single frequency of light into pulses that include thousands of frequencies. This project aims to

Planar absolute cryogenic radiometer with multiwall vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes. Superconducting transition-edge sensor. Fully-lithographic fabrication.

Photonic Radiometry

Accurate characterization of photonic equipment is important for optical communications, medical devices, semiconductor lithography, manufacturing and materials

Software

JB95 Spectral fitting program

February 19, 2016

A graphical user interface program, JB95, based on a Windows 95© API platform has been written in the C programming language to aid in the analysis of complex

FPGA-based Digital Control Box for Phase Stabilization of a Frequency Comb

October 1, 2015

This page provides information on firmware/software used at NIST to phase-lock a frequency comb. The firmware/software operates with hardware that was developed

NIST's Integrated Colony Enumerator (NICE)

August 11, 2010

Enumeration of bacterial colonies on an agar plate is simple in concept, but automated colony counting is difficult due to variations in colony color, size

SOEN Process Design Kits

This technology package, a.k.a process design kit (PDK), defines the NIST superconducting optoelectronics process: OLMAC. It is in the klayout format of

Tools and Instruments

Helium Ion Microscope

Field ion source delivers helium ions to sample. Images with secondary electrons or scattered ions.Silicon drift detector for energy resolution on backscattered

Local Electrode Atom Probe Tomography (LEAP)

Field evaporates (with a voltage and laser pulse) a sharp tip-shaped specimen. Collects the ionization products in a position-sensitive, time-of-flight mass

Sample Preparation and Metrology Tools

Read about our sample preparation and metrology tools.

Continuous-wave terahertz spectrometer

The continuous-wave terahertz spectrometer makes use of two near-infrared lasers. The first laser is a fixed-frequency cw ring Ti:Saph laser operating near 840