Nanophysics
When things get small or cold (or both!), quantum effects start to appear. NPL develops various devices and instruments to reveal and quantify them.
Novel materials, structures and devices are constructed through a variety of fabrication techniques, including e-beam lithography, focussed-ion-beam milling, nano-manipulation, and self-assembly. They are then tested at temperatures ranging from ambient down to a few tens of millikelvin using various probes, microscopes and cryostats.
Probing the form and function of nano-structure and devices requires and inspires the development of ultra-sensitive detectors, sources (of quanta) and microscopes.
This work has close links with the area of Electrical Quantum Standards
The electron has dominated technology, measurement, communications and information processing for around one century. Hard limits may restrict its future dominance. One promising disruptive technology that may grow in future is based on NEMS (nano-scale electromechanical system).
To measure surface properties on the nano-scale a whole new class of microscopes have been developed, called Scanned Probe Microscopes.