A -- Developments at NIST

DEVELOPMENTS AT NIST Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are working on the following technologies. For further information, contact: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS DIVISION, 100 BUREAU DRIVE, STOP 2200, GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND 20899-2200, FAX: +1 (555) 000-0000 OR MS. MARY CLAGUE, TELEPHONE +1 (555) 000-0000 OR EMAIL contact@example.gov. This is not an announcement of a contract action or a grant. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 01-021US Title: Method Of Minimizing The Short-Term Frequency Instability Of Laser-Pumped Atomic Clocks Description: The invention proposes a method of optimizing the performance of laser-pumped atomic frequency references with respect to the laser detuning and other operating parameters. The invention establishes that the frequency reference short-term instability will be minimized when a) the laser frequency is tuned nominally a few tens of MHz away from the center of the atomic absorption line; and b) the external oscillator lock modulation frequency is set either far below or far above the inverse of the optical pumping time of the atoms. The exact parameters for the optimization depend on the particular experimental situation and can be roughly calculated using a theory developed to simulate the clock performance. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 02-004US Title: Bio-Affinity Gel Plugs in Microfluidic Channels Description: Acrylamide-modified DNA probes are immobilized in polycarbonate microfluidic channels via photopolymerization in a polyacrylamide matrix. The resulting polymeric, hydrogel plugs are porous under electrophoretic conditions and hybridize with fluorescently-tagged complementary DNA. The double stranded DNA can be chemically denatured and the chip may be reused with a new analytical sample. Conditions for photopolymerization, hybridization, and denaturation are discussed. Photopolymertization of plugs containing different DNA probe sequences in one microfluidic channel, thereby enabling the selective detection of multiple DNA targets in one electrophoretic pathway are also demonstrated. NIST DOCKET NUMBER: 02-007PA Title: Non-Volatile Magnetic Solid State Memory Description: This invention provides an implementation of a magnetic random access memory device which uses the principle of pulsed-current induced magnetic domain reconfiguration for data storage and a nanocontact magnetoresistive effect to 'read' the encoded data.