NIST Technicalendar Online

	NIST Technicalendar August 27 to August 31, 2007 The NIST Technicalendar is issued each Friday. All items MUST be submitted electronically from this web page by 12:00 NOON each Wednesday unless otherwise stated in the NIST Technicalendar. The address for online weekly editions of the NIST Technicalendar and NIST Administrative Calendar is: http://www.nist.gov/tcal/.
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Meetings at NIST

Meetings Elsewhere

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Talks by NIST Personnel

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AT A GLANCE - MEETINGS AT NIST
MONDAY - 8/27

No Scheduled Events

TUESDAY - 8/28

10:30 AM - Observations of Magnetic Fluctuations in the Maryland Centrifugal Experiment
1:30 PM - EXAFS Analysis with First Principles Theory

WEDNESDAY - 8/29

No Scheduled Events

THURSDAY - 8/30

No Scheduled Events

FRIDAY - 8/31

No Scheduled Events

MEETINGS AT NIST
8/27 -- MONDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/28 -- TUESDAY

10:30 AM - ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY GROUP SEMINAR: Observations of Magnetic Fluctuations in the Maryland Centrifugal Experiment
Initial results from magnetic probes on the Maryland Centrifugal eXperiment(MCX) provide details of the rotation and poloidal mode structure of magnetic fluctuations in the edge region. Magnetic coils placed azimuthally along the edge measure magnetic field changes in the axial direction during the plasma discharge. The eight evenly spaced coils can resolve poloidal modes up to m=3. The plasma rotates poloidally in MCX due to the imposed radial electric field. The auto and cross-correlation of the magnetic fields between the coils show that the magnetic fluctuations are dominantly convected by the plasma rotation for several rotation periods before significant decorrelation. The rotation speed so inferred is in the ExB direction and its magnitude is consistent with earlier spectroscopic measurements on MCX. These findings help identify the dominant modes at the edge and indicate that there are a few low mode numbers that are dominant during the discharge. Also, the speed of rotation determined by this method is found to change dramatically from the High Rotation (HR) state to a low rotation ordinary (O) state inferred previously from the plasma load voltage. There is also a significant change in the fluctuation spectrum before and after the transition.
Choi Seung-Ho , Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Physics Bldg. (221), Rm. B70. (NIST Contact: John J. Curry, 301-975-2817, jjcurry@nist.gov)

1:30 PM - CERAMICS DIVISION SEMINAR: EXAFS Analysis with First Principles Theory
Barium tantalum oxynitride (BaTaO2N) is an odd case. It is a non-polar, centrosymmetric crystal that nonetheless has a high dielectric constant. This is curious because a truly centrosymmetric crystal cannot maintain the persistent dipole moment that is a characteristic feature of a dielectric. So I did some EXAFS and found some local disorder that explains the physics. What makes this more interesting than “just another EXAFS talk” is the tight integration of the results of first-principles theory into the analytic approach. I will show how a clever analysis strategy results in a far more detailed understanding of the local structure of BaTaO2N and of the relationship between the local structure and its material properties. I will speculate on how this link between EXAFS measurement and first principles theory can be further developed. I will also consider how this theory-based approach to EXAFS analysis, which worked so well here, can be applied to a wide variety of interesting systems.
Bruce Ravel , Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, bravel@anl.gov.
Materials Bldg, Rm. A250. (NIST Contact: Denise Shaw, 301-975-6119, denise.shaw@nist.gov)

8/29 -- WEDNESDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/30 -- THURSDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/31 -- FRIDAY

No Scheduled Events

ADVANCE NOTICE

9/7/07 10:30 AM - NIST COLLOQUIUM SERIES : Quantum Money, Teleportation and Computation - New Mysteries from the Quantum World
In the world of quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is a key feature that for many years was thought of as a limitation or disadvantage. Physicists have recently come to realize that quantum uncertainty can in fact be a useful resource to encrypt information securely, create quantum money that cannot be counterfeited, teleport quantum states from one place to another, and build quantum computers that can solve certain problems exponentially faster than classical computers. This talk is an elementary introduction to these ideas and describes current experimental attempts to construct the quantum bits that might someday form the building blocks of a practical quantum computer. NOTE: This talk requires no prior knowledge of quantum mechanics.
Steven Girvin , Departments of Physics and Applied Physics, Yale University.
Administration Building, Red Auditorium. (NIST Contact: Kum Ham, 301-975-4203, kham@nist.gov)

Special Assistance Available

MEETINGS ELSEWHERE

8/27 -- MONDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/28 -- TUESDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/29 -- WEDNESDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/30 -- THURSDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/31 -- FRIDAY

No Scheduled Events

ADVANCE NOTICE

9/11/07 8:30 AM - BIOMETRIC CONSORTIUM CONFERENCE (BC2007)
The BC2007 is a multi-track conference that will address the latest trends in biometrics research, development and application on biometric technologies. This conference addresses the important role that biometrics can play in the identification and verification of individuals in this age of heightened security and privacy by examining biometric-based solutions for homeland security (airport security, travel documents, visas, border control, prevention of ID theft) as well as the utilization of biometrics in other applications such as point of sale and large-scale enterprise network environments.

The BC2007 is being held in conjunction with and co-located with the 2007 Biometrics Technology Expo hosted by AFCEA.
Dr. John Marburger, III , Science Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Mr. David Wennergren , Deputy Asst Secretary of Defense for Information Mgmt, Integration & Technology and DoD Deputy CIO. The Honorable James W. Ziglar
President and Chief Executive Officer, Cross Match Technologies, Inc.

Featured DoD Speaker:
Mr. William Gravell
President, Diogenes Group LLC
Bldg, Rm. .

Baltimore Convention Center Baltimore, Maryland. (NIST Contact: Sara Caswell, 301-975-4634, bc2007info@nist.gov) http://www.nist.gov/bc2007

10/4/07 10:00 AM - NIST/DARPA WORKSHOP ON COMPACT X-RAY SOURCES BASED ON INVERSE COMPTON SCATTERING
Ronald Ruth , President and Chief Scientist, Lyncean Technologies, Inc.. David Moncton , Director, MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. W.J. Brown, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, F.E. Carroll Jr, CEO & Chief Medical Officer, MXISystems, Inc., M. Richter, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt PTB, M.Bech, Swiss Light Source, PSI
Bldg, Rm. .
The Executive Conference Center (ECC), 3601 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600, Arlington, Virginia 22201 . (NIST Contact: Uwe Arp, 301-975-3233, uwe.arp@nist.gov) http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div841/Gp2/darpaWorkshop.html

TALKS BY NIST PERSONNEL

FRASER, G. : NIST-CALIBRATED SI-TRACEABLE STARS.
SPIE Optics & Photonics Symposium, San Diego, CA, 8/27.

DOUGLAS, J. : DEVELOPING AN IMPROVED METROLOGY FOR NANOPARTICLE AND POLYMER CHARACTERIZATION.
Symposium in Honor of Karl Freed, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 8/27.

BEVERSLUIS, M. : NANO-OPTICS FOR CHEMICAL AND MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION.
Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR, 8/27.

LIU, Y. (Co-Author: M.Cicerone , Biomaterials Group Leader / NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, cicerone@nist.gov) : INNOVATIONS IN OPTIC AND PHOTONIC APPLICATIONS: EFFICIENT RED-SHIFTED SUPERCONTINUUM GENERATION IN GEO2 DOPING FIBER.
SPIE (The International Society for Optical Engineering) Optics+Photonics, San Diego Convention Center / Room 26-B / San Diego, California USA, 8/27.

BEVERSLUIS, M. : NANO-OPTICS FOR CHEMICAL AND MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION.
Luna Innovations, Blacksburg, VA, 8/30.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT OF PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES IN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY (NIST)’S PERUVIAN SOIL STANDARD REFERENCE MATERIAL (SRM 4355) BY ALPHA SPECTROMETRY AND THERMAL IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY (TIMS)
The intense interest in the location and fate of plutonium in the environment has stimulated extensive development of analytical techniques to measure its isotopes over a range greater than 1018 (Pentreath, Appl.Radiat.Isot.,1995). NIST SRMs containing plutonium in environmental matricies have been used routinely to quantify accuracy and precision and demonstrate detection limits. Low level radiochemical separations combined with alpha-particle and mass spectrometry have been routinely used over the past 30 years to detect and characterize the plutonium concentration and isotopic content of environmental samples (eg. Buessler & Halverson, J. Environ. Radioactivy, 1987). Recent efforts have focused on demonstrating the sensitivity of this technique with soil samples for analytical measurements at the femtogram level with sub-femtogram detection limits. NIST’s SRM 4355 is a well characterized soil from an agricultural station near Lima, Peru. It was originally developed as a radioactivity blank for activation/fission product activities in a soil matrix. It contains traces of fallout plutonium with a certified value for only the 239+240Pu activity by alpha spectrometry. This work describes the modification of the technique to process 10 gram soil samples and the measurements of the 239Pu and 240Pu contents of SRM 4355 by TIMS. J. R. Cadieux, Savannah River National Laboratory, 28 August 2007, 10:30AM, Bldg. 245, room C301
NIST Contact: Jerome La Rosa, 301-975-8333, jerome.larosa@nist.gov

2007 U.S. WORLD STANDARDS DAY PAPER COMPETITION
The U.S. standards community will celebrate World Standards Day on Thursday, October 18, 2007, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. This year’s theme, “Standards and the Global Village” recognizes the global consensus-building capacity of standards developing organizations. Along with this event, the 2007 World Standards Day Sponsors, including NIST, will hold the annual paper competition. Papers are invited that show, using specific examples, ways that standards developing organizations have encouraged and created global consensus for the economic and social benefit of the global village. Paper competition winners will be announced and given their awards at the U.S. celebration of World Standards Day. Cash prizes are awarded by the Standards Engineering Society (SES) and the World Standards Day Planning Committee. The first place winner will receive a plaque and $2,500. Second and third place winners will receive $1,000 and $500, respectively, along with a certificate. In addition, the winning papers will be published in SES’s journal, Standards Engineering. ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to all U.S. individuals in the private sector or at government facilities. Papers may be co-authored. RULES: Entries must be original and not previously published. NIST papers must be processed through WERB or BERB. All paper contest submissions must be received with an official entry form by midnight August 31, 2007, by the SES Executive Director, 13340 SW 96th Avenue, Miami, Florida, 33176. Complete details and entry forms are available on the SES website www.ses-standards.org (follow the link for “2007 WSD Paper Competition.”) For additional information about the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day, or to register for the event, please visit www.wsd-us.org.
NIST Contact: Mary Donaldson, 301-975-6197, mary.donaldson@nist.gov

VISITOR REGISTRATION FOR NIST EVENTS
Because of heightened security at the NIST Gaithersburg site, members of the public who wish to attend meetings, seminars, lectures, etc. must first register in advance. For more information please call or e-mail the "NIST Contact" for the particular event you would like to attend.
NIST Contact: . ., ., .

NIST WEB SITE ANNOUNCEMENTS

No Web Site announcements this week.

For more information, contact Ms. Sharon Hallman, Editor, Stop 2500, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg MD 20899-2500; Telephone: 301-975-TCAL (3570); Fax: 301-926-4431; or Email: tcal@nist.gov.

All lectures and meetings are open unless otherwise stated.

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