A4.3 - Effect of Helium Contamination on Rubidium Clocks - A Possible Error Source for Absolute Gravimeters and Kibble Balances
- Event
- SMSI 2025
2025-05-06 - 2025-05-08
Nürnberg - Band
- Lectures
- Chapter
- A4 - Revised SI
- Author(s)
- C. Rothleitner, J. Konrad - Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig (Germany)
- Pages
- 53 - 54
- DOI
- 10.5162/SMSI2025/A4.3
- ISBN
- 978-3-910600-06-5
- Price
- free
Abstract
When a Kibble balance is operated at highest accuracy level, often a Programmable Josephson Voltage Standard (PJVS) and a Free-Fall Absolute Gravimeter are located in the same room. The helium used in PJVS systems can evaporate into the laboratory air, potentially contaminating the rubidium clock used by the gravimeter. This contamination affects the absolute frequency of the clock and can lead to wrong measurements of the free-fall acceleration, and, as a consequence, wrong determination of the mass.