Refractive-index gas thermometry

Abstract

The principles and techniques of primary refractive-index gas thermometry (RIGT) are reviewed. Absolute primary RIGT using microwave measurements of helium-filled quasispherical resonators has been implemented at the temperatures of the triple points of neon, oxygen, argon and water, with relative standard uncertainties ranging from 9.1 × 10^-6 to 3.5 × 10^-5. Researchers are now also using argon-filled cylindrical microwave resonators for RIGT near ambient temperature, with relative standard uncertainties between 3.8 × 10^-5 and 4.6 × 10^-5, and conducting relative RIGT measurements on isobars at low temperatures. RIGT at optical frequencies is progressing, and has been used to perform a Boltzmann constant measurement at room temperature with a relative standard uncertainty of 1.2 × 10^-5. Uncertainty budgets from implementations of absolute primary microwave RIGT, relative primary microwave RIGT and absolute primary optical RIGT are provided.