Award Data

The recent emergence of the Silicon Drift detector (SDD), for use in energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS), has made possible x-ray event streams with count rates as high as 1-10 Mcps. A problem with existing digital signal processing, as applied to SDDs, is the significant presence of coincidence peaks above the x-ray background. These coincidence peaks occur with amplitudes comparable to lo ...

Voxtel has demonstrated efficient high-speed photon counting with thresholded linear-mode avalanche photodiode (APD) receivers using multi-gain-stage InGaAs/InAIAs APDs. In contrast to Geiger APDs, thresholded photon-counting linear APD receivers are thought not to suffer afterpulsing, and can support maximum count rates (MCR) up to 2 or 3 orders of magnitude faster than Geiger APDs. However, the ...

The Phase 2 objective is to provide NIST with a modular gauge head unit equipped with InsituTec's standing wave probe technology. The complete gauge head unit will be retrofitted to the NIST M48 which is one of the most precise measuring machines in the world. This unit will enable NIST to achieve the agency's program goal in dimensional metrology which is to provide microscale measurement capacit ...

SOCOM, other military branches, and civilian authorities (homeland defense) need ways to rapidly determine the presence of chemical and biological threats and classify their nature. Standoff detection of the threats would greatly enhance personnel safetyand allow more operational flexibility.We propose a novel laser-based system allowing remote measurements of the infrared spectra of aerosols, va ...

Stirling Technology Company (STC) has developed several Free-Piston Stirling Engine (FPSE) generators with outputs ranging from 10 W to 3 kW. These engines are very quiet, adaptable to virtually any fuel, and can run continuously. However, existing units are relatively heavy. STC proposes to leverage over 2 decades of development into a Special Operations Power System (SOPS) that directly addresse ...

An existing low-cost FPGA-based processing platform will be demonstrated with fiber-coupling to single-photon detectors, to perform photon-arrival time stamping with

A stable, well characterized InGaAs materials growth and photodetector fabrication process will be used to fabricate matched photodiodes optimized for balanced homodyne detection. The 1-mm-diameter p-i-n photodetectors will be manufactured back-illuminated with a 5-micron absorber, allowing residual light to reflect off the front-side metal to make a double pass through the active layer. Ultra-hig ...

The Temperature Programmed Sensing (TPS) system developed at NIST presents many opportunities and unique challenges. The data output from the system can be quite complex and there are many opportunities to optimize the system for specific sensing scenarios. We propose a program aimed at characterizing the system so that potential problems (such as system drift) can be solved early so that the full ...

A smart machine tool must be able to monitor its condition and report problems. Every CNC machine should provide an alarm for tool condition problems, including tool wear, much as every automobile has a low oil indicator. Tool wear is particularly important for unattended machining as a worn tool can ruin a part. All current tool condition systems operate "blind" without direct information on curr ...

Aculight proposes to develop a laser source that will enable NIST to perform highly sensitive water vapor detection via cavity ring-down spectroscopy. The source will operate over a wavelength region centered at 1380nm. It will be based upon frequency conversion of a single frequency fiber source using an optical parametric oscillator (OPO).The performance of the source in terms of several critica ...