The Quantum Electro-Mechanical Metrology Suite

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is building a robust open-source hardware and software Quantum Electro-Mechanical Metrology Suite (QEMMS) that can provide quantum voltage, resistance, current, mass, and force dissemination directly traceable to the new SI. The goal is to develop a self-calibrating SI system that is turn-key and fit-for-purpose for primary standard laboratories and other national metrology institutes.

I. Introduction

NIST has built a fourth generation Kibble balance apparatus (NIST-4) for the determination of the Planck constant value in 2017 for the redefinition of the SI, and for future mass realization ranging from 500 g to 2 kg with relative uncertainties of 10^-8 [1], [2]. In a conventional Kibble balance operating around 1 kg, a standard resistor is used to measure a nominal 10 mA current across a coil and then is calibrated offline against a quantum Hall resistance standard.