Physics Laboratory Vision, Mission, Goals, etc.
PL Vision
Preeminent performance in measurement science, technology, and services.
PL Mission
The mission of the NIST Physics Laboratory is to support U.S. industry,
government, and the scientific community by providing measurement services and
research for electronic, optical, and radiation technology. The Laboratory
provides the foundation for metrology of optical and ionizing radiation, time
and frequency, and fundamental quantum processes.
PL Goals
Physics Laboratory develops goals within its mission and focus areas. These
include health care quality assurance, nanoscale measurements and data, and
measurements and standards that support homeland security. In addition to these
over-arching focus areas, which are shared by other NIST Laboratories, PL has
substantial programmatic interest in time and frequency, optical and photonic,
and environmental and energy metrology and applications.
Division Home Pages
Electron and Optical Physics
Division: to support emerging electronic, optical, and nanoscale
technologies.
Atomic Physics Division: to
determine atomic properties and investigate fundamental quantum interactions.
Optical Technology Division:
to provide the foundation of optical radiation measurements for our Nation.
Ionizing Radiation Division:
to provide the foundation of ionizing radiation measurements for our Nation.
Time and Frequency
Division: to provide the foundation of frequency measurements and
civil timekeeping for our Nation.
Quantum Physics Division: to
make transformational advances at the frontiers of measurement science, in
partnership with the University of Colorado at JILA.
Office of Electronics Commerce in Scientific and
Engineering Data: to coordinate and facilitate the electronic
dissemination of information via the Internet.
PL Resources
- 192 full-time staff (140 scientific) with expertise in:
- - Atomic, molecular, and optical physics
- - Computational physics
- - Condensed matter physics
- - Health physics
- - Medical physics
- - Nuclear physics
- - Biophysics
- - Chemistry
- - Metrology and precision measurement
- $67 million annual budget
- Unique facilities, including:
- - Bidirectional Optical Scattering Facility
- - Center for High-Accuracy Retroreflection Measurements (CHARM)
- - Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT)
- - Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Facility
- - EUV Optics Fabrication and Characterization Facility
- - High-Accuracy Cryogenic Radiometry
- - High-Illuminance Standards and Calibration Facility
- - High-Resolution UV and Optical Spectroscopy Facility
- - W.M. Keck Optical Measurement Laboratory
- - Low-Background Infrared Radiation Facility (LBIR)
- - Magnetic Microstructure Measurement Facility
- - Mammographic X-Ray Instrument Calibration Range
- - Medical-Industrial Radiation Facility (MIRF)
- - Nanoscale Physics Laboratory
- - Neutron Imaging Facility
- - Neutron Interferometer and Optics Facility (NIOF)
- - Neutron Detector Test Facility
- - Radiopharmaceutical Standardization Laboratory
- - Spectral Irradiance and Radiance Calibrations with Uniform Sources (SIRCUS) Facility
- - Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF III)
- Standard time dissemination services:
- - Radio stations WWV, WWVH, and WWVB
- - Automated Computer Time Service (ACTS)
- - Internet Time Service (ITS)
- Measurement and calibration services for:
- - Color and color temperature
- - Dosimetry of x rays, gamma rays, and charged particles
- - Neutron sources and neutron dosimetry
- - Optical properties of materials
- - Optical wavelength
- - Oscillator frequency
- - Phase and amplitude noise
- - Photodiode spectral responsivity
- - Photometry (e.g., luminous intensity, luminous flux, illuminance)
- - Radiance temperature
- - Radiation detectors
- - Radioactivity sources
- - Spectral radiance and irradiance
- - Spectral transmittance and reflectance
PL Website
- http://physics.nist.gov/
Our website includes administrative and technical information, tables of
evaluated reference data, research summaries, image galleries, and tutorial
materials. One of the most popular websites at NIST with about one million
downloads per month, it has won several awards for the quality of its content
and presentation.
Address
- Physics Laboratory
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8400
- Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8400
- Telephone: 301-975-4200
"Technical Activities 2004"
- Table of Contents |
