Johnson Noise Thermometry near the Zinc Freezing Point Using Resistance-Based Scaling

Abstract

Johnson noise thermometry (JNT) is a primary method of measuring temperature which can be applied over wide ranges. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is currently using JNT to determine the deviations of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) from the thermodynamic temperature in the range of 505–933 K, overlapping the ranges of both acoustic gas-based and radiation-based thermometry. Advances in digital electronics have now made viable the computationally intensive and data-volume-intensive processing required for JNT using noise-voltage correlation in the frequency domain. The spectral noise power, and consequently the thermodynamic temperature T, of a high-temperature JNT probe is determined relative to a known reference spectrum using a switched-input digital noise-voltage correlator and simple resistance-scaling relationships. Comparison of the JNT results with standard platinum resistance thermometers calibrated on the ITS-90 gives the deviation of the thermodynamic temperature from the temperature on the ITS-90, T − T 90. Statistical uncertainties under 50 μK·K−1 are achievable in less than 1 day of integration by fitting the effects of transmission-line time constants over bandwidths of 450 kHz. The methods and results in a 3 K interval near the zinc freezing point (T 90-ZnFP ≡ 692.677 K) are described. Preliminary results show agreement between the JNT-derived temperatures and the ITS-90.