An Adiabatic Calorimeter for the Realization of the ITS-90 in the Cryogenic Range at the LNE-CNAM

The LNE-CNAM, in cooperation with the IPN, has recently developed a new cryogen-free adiabatic calorimeter, to realize the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) in the temperature range between 6 K and 84 K. The new calorimeter, cooled by a closed-cycle Gifford-McMahon refrigerator, is equipped with three thermal shields and two separate vacuum chambers, to minimize the effect of parasitic heat fluxes. The inner adiabatic chamber can accommodate either a multi-compartment cell—containing the triple points of hydrogen, neon, oxygen, and argon, to realize the ITS-90 between 14 K and 84 K—or a comparison block for thermometers, the calibration of rhodium–iron (RhFe) thermometers between 6 K and 24 K. The use of a cryogen-free system and a fully computer-controlled measurement chain allow long lasting experiments and good thermal control, resulting in a substantial reduction of the measurement uncertainties. The new adiabatic calorimeter has been successfully tested at the LNE-CNAM. The overall standard uncertainties in the realization of the ITS-90 have been reduced from 2.08 mK to 0.37 mK at the hydrogen triple point, from 1.40 mK to 0.30 mK at the triple point of neon, and are maintained below 0.26 mK at the triple points of oxygen and argon. In the temperature range between 6 K and 24 K, calibrations of rhodium–iron resistance thermometers have been carried out with a standard uncertainty of the order of 0.80 mK.