Metrology Triangle Using a Watt Balance, a Calculable Capacitor, and a Single- Electron Tunneling Device

Published

May 16, 2008

Author(s)

Mark W. Keller, Francois P. Piquemal, Nicolas Feltin, Barthelemy Steck, Laurent Devoille

Abstract

The combination of a Watt balance, a calculable capacitor, and a single-electron tunneling device forms a triangle that yields a value for the single-electron charge quantum $Q_{\rm{S}}$ in terms of the SI coulomb. Importantly, this result is independent of the Josephson and quantum Hall effects, and thus avoids the possible confounding corrections from these two effects that arise in the traditional quantum metrology triangle. This triangle can be used to test for corrections to the expected relation $Q_{\rm{S}} = e$, where $e$ is the elementary charge. Combining existing results for Watt balances, calculable capacitors, and an electron counting capacitance standard yields $(Q_{\rm{S}} / e)-1 = (-0.09 \pm 0.92) \times 10^{-6}$.

Citation

Metrologia

Volume

45

Pub Type

Journals

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Citation

Keller, M. , Piquemal, F. , Feltin, N. , Steck, B. and Devoille, L. (2008), Metrology Triangle Using a Watt Balance, a Calculable Capacitor, and a Single- Electron Tunneling Device, Metrologia, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=32943 (Accessed October 8, 2025)