An Electronic Measurement of the Boltzmann Constant

Abstract

The Boltzmann constant was measured by comparing the Johnson noise of a resistor at the triple point of water with a quantum-based voltage reference signal generated with a superconducting Josephson-junction waveform synthesizer. The measured value of k = 1.380651(18) \times 10^-23 J/K is consistent with the current CODATA value and the combined uncertainties. This is our first measurement of k with this electronic technique, and the first noise thermometry measurement to achieve a relative combined uncertainty of 13 parts in 10^6. We describe the most recent improvements to our Johnson Noise Thermometer that enabled the statistical uncertainty contribution to be reduced to seven parts in 10^6, as well as the further reduction of spurious systematic errors and EMI effects. The uncertainty budget for this measurement is discussed in detail.

23 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (3)

• CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2010
• Three dimensional image correlation from X-Ray computed tomography of solid foam
• On the narrow dip structure at 1.9 GeV/c${}^2$ in diffractive photoproduction

Cited by in corpus (8)

• CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2010
• CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2014
• Improved electronic measurement of the Boltzmann constant by Johnson noise Thermometry
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• Development of high frequency and wide bandwidth Johnson noise thermometry
• Doppler broadening thermometry based on cavity ring-down spectroscopy
• The ampere and the electrical units in the quantum era
• Spectral model selection in the electronic measurement of the Boltzmann constant by Johnson noise thermometry