Thermoelectric properties of currently available Au/Pt thermocouples related to the valid reference function

Au/Pt thermocouples are considered to be an alternative to High Temperature Standard Platinum Resistance Thermometers (HTSPRTs) for realizing temperatures according to the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) in the temperature range between aluminium (660.323 °C) and silver (961.78 °C). The original aim of this work was to develop and to validate a new reference function for Au/Pt thermocouples which reflects the properties of presently commercially available Au and Pt wires. The thermoelectric properties of 16 Au/Pt thermocouples constructed at different National Metrological Institutes by using wires from different suppliers and 4 commercially available Au/Pt thermocouples were investigated. Most of them exhibit significant deviations from the current reference function of Au/Pt thermocouples caused by the poor performance of the Au-wires available. Thermoelectric homogeneity was investigated by measuring immersion profiles during freezes at the freezing point of silver and in liquid baths. The thermoelectric inhomogeneities were found to be one order of magnitude larger than those of Au/Pt thermocouples of the Standard Reference Material ® (SRM ® ) 1749. The improvement of the annealing procedure of the gold wires is a key process to achieve thermoelectric homogeneities in the order of only about (2–3) mK, sufficient to replace the impracticable HTSPRTs as interpolation instruments of the ITS-90. Comparison measurements of some of the Au/Pt thermocouples against a HTSPRT and an absolutely calibrated radiation thermometer were performed and exhibit agreements within the expanded measurement uncertainties. It has been found that the current reference function of Au/Pt thermocouples reflects adequately the thermoelectric properties of currently available Au/Pt thermocouples.