Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Illustration with orange and yellow background. Gray honeycomb pattern. Circles that look like water drops.

Nanotechnology

Overview

Advancing nanoscale measurement science, standards, and nanotechnology is an important component of NIST's mission to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness. From leading cutting edge research to coordinating the development of standards that promote trade, NIST's programs in nanotechnology directly impact priorities important to the nation's economy and well being.

Featured Content

Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology

Nanotechnology Topics

Nanobiotechnology

Nanochemistry

Nanoelectronics

Nanofabrication / manufacturing

The Research

Projects & Programs

Chemical Functionalization and Manipulation of Nano Materials

Ongoing

This project focuses on understanding the potential for nanoscale engineered materials to advance state-of-the-art spectroscopic techniques and foster the

Forensic Topography and Surface Metrology

Ongoing

This project provides methods, standards, and services for characterizing surface texture and microform in manufacturing, forensics, and science. We seek to

PTIR combines the spatial resolution of AFM with the specificity of absorption spectroscopy

Nano-Chemical Imaging and -Spectroscopy (IR, nIR, VIS)

Ongoing

Conventional techniques for analyzing chemical composition, such as infrared (IR) microscopy often miss critically important nanoscale details. To overcome this

Analysis of Copper Incorporation Into Zinc Oxide Nanowires

ZnO nanowires (NWs) are grown on bulk copper by chemical vapor deposition. Photoluminescence (PL) microscopy revealed band gap emission at 380 nm and a more

View All Projects/Programs

Additional Resources Links

Publications

Software

Tools & Instruments

Man in a clean suit stands in front of a chip oven

The CNST NanoFab: Through the Users’ Eyes

Learn more about this unique NIST facility, where scientists from government, academia and industry can use commercial, state-of-the-art tools at economical rates, and get help from dedicated, full-time technical support staff. Voices: David Baldwin (Great Ball of Light, Inc.) Elisa Williams (Scientific & Biomedical Microsystems) George Coles (Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory) William Osborn (NIST)

View video

News

concept illustrating the virtuous cycle of how better devices lead to better measurements which lead to better devices

The Virtuous Cycle of Making and Measuring Nanostructures

In his 1959 lecture “ There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom ,” Richard Feynman invited us to enter a new field of physics. He envisioned, with remarkable prescience, making, measuring and using new technology at the nanometer scale. The exact effect that his predictions had on future science is uncertain, but he certainly inspired science fiction writers, and their stories captured my imagination

Do the Bump: NIST Scientists Perfect Miniaturized Technique to Generate Precise Wavelengths of Visible Laser Light

Illustrated celestial body shines on a flat box-shaped device with a protruding center.

NIST Team Develops Highest-Resolution Single-Photon Superconducting Camera

Imaging the Elusive Skyrmion

Stay in Touch

Upcoming Events

Quantum Matters in Materials Science Workshop

Wed, Feb 21 - Thu, Feb 22 2024

As a part of the JARVIS workshops series, NIST is organizing the 3rd Quantum Matters in Materials Science (QMMS)