IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation & Measurement

Calibration of 10 nF Capacitance Standard from DC Quantum Hall Resistance using a

Digital Impedance Bridge
--Manuscript Draft--

Manuscript Number: TIM-20-01839

Article Type: Special Section

Section/Category: CPEM 2020 Special Section (August 17 - August 31)

Keywords: Capacitance standard, Calibration, Measurement uncertainty, quantum Hall resistance.

Corresponding Author: Dan Bee Kim

Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science
Daejeon, Daejeon KOREA, REPUBLIC OF

First Author: Ngoc Thanh Mai Tran

Order of Authors: Ngoc Thanh Mai Tran

Wan-Seop Kim

Dan Bee Kim

Abstract: This paper describes a calibration method for 10 nF capacitance standard from the
primary standard of DC quantum Hall resistance using a multi-purpose digital
impedance bridge. The bridge can directly compare the unlike impedances in the fully
digital mode, so the capacitance standard of 10 nF can be calibrated by a direct
comparison against the AC resistance standard of 10 kΩ. The measurement ability of
the bridge in the fully digital mode was evaluated in various angles, and it was found
that the measurement accuracy can reach from 10 -5 down to 10 -7 relatively. Then, it
was applied to the 10 nF standard capacitor, and the calibrated value of the 10 nF
capacitance against the 10 kΩ resistance standard agreed with a reference value by a
few parts in 10 6 at the best.

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Calibration of 10 nF Capacitance Standard from
6
7 DC Quantum Hall Resistance using a Digital
8
9
10
Impedance Bridge
11
12
13 Ngoc Thanh Mai Tran, Wan-Seop Kim, and Dan Bee Kim
14
15
16  transformers or inductive voltage dividers (IVDs), requiring
17 Abstract —This paper describes a calibration method for 10 nF relatively long and complex balancing procedures. Recently, to
18 capacitance standard from the primary standard of DC quantum answer the purpose of convenient calibration with the
19 Hall resistance using a multi-purpose digital impedance bridge. automation, many National Metrology Institutes around world
20 The bridge can directly compare the unlike impedances in the fully
have worked on substitution of the electromagnetic parts by
digital mode, so the capacitance standard of 10 nF can be
21 digital components [7,8].
calibrated by a direct comparison against the AC resistance
22 standard of 10 kΩ. The measurement ability of the bridge in the A multi-purpose digital coaxial bridge, developed by Czech
23 fully digital mode was evaluated in various angles, and it was Metrology Institute (CMI) [9] has been newly set up at KRISS.
24 found that the measurement accuracy can reach from 10-5 down to It consists of precise sinewave generators (SWGs), and it is
25 10-7 relatively. Then, it was applied to the 10 nF standard fully automatic with the coaxial switch implementation. The
26 capacitor, and the calibrated value of the 10 nF capacitance
bridge can be configured in either digitally assisted (DA) or
27 against the 10 kΩ resistance standard agreed with a reference
28 value by a few parts in 106 at the best. fully digital (FD) modes. The preferable approach in achieving
29 the highest accuracy of 10-8 level is the DA mode since it still
30 Index Terms— Capacitance standard, Calibration, utilizes a ratio transformer. On the other hand, the bridge has at
31 Measurement uncertainty, quantum Hall resistance. least one order less accuracy in the FD mode, but it can compare
32 any combination of the impedance standards with the two poly-
33 phase SWGs, applying voltage for each impedance standard
34 I. INTRODUCTION with an arbitrary phase.
35 The current chain at KRISS from the DC QHR to the
36
37
C ALIBRATION of the capacitance has an important role in the
electrical impedance metrology. Several approaches are
possible to trace the capacitance from the primary standards;
capacitance is based on the DA bridges of ratio and quadrature
(left chain in Fig. 1). Utilizing the new digital bridge described
38 one from a calculable cross capacitor [1] and the other from the above, a direct comparison of resistance (R) with capacitance
39 Quantum Hall resistor (QHR) by means of various AC coaxial (C) can be attempted in the FD mode (middle chain in Fig. 1).
40 If the FD quadrature bridge can be used to calibrate the
bridges [2-5]. The capacitance unit at Korea Research Institute
41 capacitance against the AC resistance, the flexibility of the
of Standards and Science (KRISS) has been recently traced to
42
the DC QHR [6] (left chain in Fig. 1). However, the chain traceability chain will be largely increased.
43
44 inevitably requires an artifact of the AC-DC calculable In this work, the digital impedance bridge was evaluated
45 resistance standard which is not only challenging to fabricate mainly in the FD mode by comparing C-C and R-R in 1 : 1 and
46 but also has a lifespan based on the time drift and instrumental 10 : 1 ratios, then, it was applied to calibrated the 10 nF
47 errors like the temperature coefficient. Thus, in order to replace capacitance standard based on the 10 kΩ resistance standard
48 such an artifact of the resistance standards with a quantum- which can be traced to the primary standard of DC QHR via an
49 based standard, further studies are being done for the AC QHR AC-DC calculable resistance standard.
50 based on the graphene device as depicted by dotted line in Fig.
51 1 (right chain).
52 Aiming the establishment of the traceability from the AC II. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP
53 QHR to the capacitance, AC coaxial bridge is one of the The multi-purpose reconfigurable digital bridge employed in
54 essential part. Conventionally, the AC coaxial bridges have this work can transfer the impedance value in the whole
55 complicated configurations with electromagnetic parts of
56
57
“This research was supported by the Research on Redefinition of SI Base Participating States and from the European Unions’ Horizon 2020 research and
58 Units (KRISS-2020-GP2020-0001) funded in part by the Korea Research innovation programme (NRF+BIA)”
59 Institute of Standards and Science and in part by the Technology Development N. T. M. Tran is with Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle
60 for Reliability Improvement of Clinical Data under Grant No. NRF- Cacce 91, Turin 10135, Italy. W. S. Kim, and D. B. Kim are with the Korea
61 2019K1A3A1A78077479. This work also contributes to the progress of the Research Institute of Standards and Science, 267 Gajeongno, Yuseong-gu,
Joint Research Project GIQS (18SIB07) funded by the European Metrology Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea (e-mail: danbeek@kriss.re.kr).
62 Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) co-financed by the
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2 complex impedance plane such as R-R, C-C and R-C. The value of 1 kΩ. The DC resistance value can be transferred to the
3 bridge can be operated in either DA or FD modes with the 4 AC resistance value with an accuracy less than 1 × 10 -9 at
4
terminal-pair (4-TP) definition. The bridge measurement frequency below 2 kHz. The standard resistor is kept in a
5
uncertainty can be a few parts in 108 at the best in the DA mode thermostatic chamber for an enhanced temperature stability.
6
7 [9]. In order to compare the unlike impedances of R-C for The daily drift of the resistance has been evaluated to be around
8 instance, the bridge needs to be operated in the FD mode. 3 × 10-9 [10].
9
10 A. The traceability chain of the 10 nF capacitance from the
11 DC QHR
12
13 The traceability chain from the DC QHR to the capacitance
14 of 10 nF is shown in Fig. 1. The primary standard of DC QHR
15 (RK/2 ≈ 12906.4 Ω where RK is the von Klitzing constant) is
16 used to calibrate the 1 kΩ resistance at DC by using a
17 commercial CCC bridge (Magnicon GmbH). The 1 kΩ resistor
18 is Haddad-type AC-DC calculable resistance standard which
19 has a calculable frequency dependence. Based on the DC
20 resistance value of the 1 kΩ AC-DC calculable standard
21 resistor, the AC resistance value of the 10 kΩ standard resistor
22 is given using the 4-TP DA ratio bridge at 1.541 kHz. Finally,
23 Fig. 2. The AC resistance value of the 10 kΩ standard resistor against time.
the capacitance value of the 10 nF standard capacitor can be The values in the grey area are given from the chain traced to the DC quantum
24 calibrated from the AC resistance of the 10 kΩ standard resistor Hall resistance standard using the 4-terminal-pair digitally assisted bridge
25 using the FD bridge at 1.541 kHz at which the R-C ratio is
26 • The 10 kΩ AC resistance standard: The 10 kΩ standard
approximately 1 : 1.
27 resistor is made of a Vishay resistor, model VHA 516-4 with 4-
28 TP terminals. It is also kept in a thermostatic chamber, and its
29 daily drift of the resistance is estimated to be less than 3 × 10 -9.
30 Figure 2 shows the resistance value of the 10 kΩ standard
31 resistor over the years. The data in the grey area are traced to
32 the DC QHR following the traceability chain in Fig. 1. The
33
digital bridge was configured in the DA mode to calibrate the
34
resistance of the 10 kΩ standard resistor against the 1 kΩ AC-
35
36 DC calculable standard resistor at two frequencies of 1.025 kHz
37 and 1.541 kHz. The difference in the resistance values between
38 the two frequencies were about 6 × 10-8 relatively.
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40
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42
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44 Fig. 1. Traceability chain from DC quantum Hall resistance to the capacitance
45 of 10 nF.
46
Thus measured capacitance of the 10 nF capacitor was
47
48 compared with the reference value, calibrated based on the 1 nF
49 capacitance from the DC QHR (left chain in Fig. 1) [6]; The DC
50 QHR standard is used to calibrate the AC-DC calculable
51 standard resistor of 12.9 kΩ, against which two AC resistance Fig. 3. The capacitance ratio difference from the nominal ratio for 10 nF : 1
standards of the 103 kΩ are calibrated with a 8 : 1 ratio. The nF against the time at frequencies of 1, 1.541 kHz using the 4-terminal-pair
52 digitally assisted bridge.
53 two resistance standards of the 103 kΩ are then employed to
54 realize the capacitance of 1 nF using a quadrature bridge. The • The 10 nF capacitance standard: The 10 nF standard
55 10 nF capacitance can be measured from the 1 nF capacitance capacitor of model iET 1404-10 nF is employed, also placed in
56 using the 4-TP DA bridge. a thermostatic chamber. As a result of the temperature control,
57 the short term stability was improved [10]. The 10 nF
58 capacitance standard was compared with the 1 nF capacitance
59 B. The impedance standards standard at the two frequencies of 1.025 kHz and 1.541 kHz
60 • The 1 kΩ AC-DC calculable resistance standard: The AC- using the digital bridge in the DA mode as shown in Fig. 3. The
61 DC calculable standard resistor is a Haddad-type, fabricated at ratio drift is around 20 × 10-9/day estimated from a linear fitting,
62 Laboratoire national de métrologie et dˈessais with a nominal
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 3
1
2 and it is assumed to be the drift of the 10 nF capacitance To improve the measurement uncertainty, the bridge
3 standard, because the daily drift of 1 nF capacitance standard is measurement was done by taking an average between the two
4
about 0.2 × 10-9. measurements of forward and reverse connections of the
5
impedance standards. It can exclude most of the bridge
6
7 systematic errors although some errors still remain [12].
C. The fully-digital bridge
8 The digital bridge employed in this work is reconfigurable in
9
either DA or FD modes. The bridge was first configured in the III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
10
DA mode in order to calibrate the 10 kΩ resistance value
11 Before the calibration of 10 nF capacitance standard against
against the 1 kΩ resistance value, traced from the DC QHR. The
12 the 10 kΩ resistance standard using the FD bridge, the bridge
13 bridge was then reconfigured in the FD mode for the
evaluation was performed using various capacitance and
14 comparison of the 10 kΩ resistance with the 10 nF capacitance.
resistance standards with known reference values. Afterwards,
15 The evaluation studies for the DA mode has been done in the
a direct comparison between the 10 kΩ resistance and the 10 nF
16 other works [9,11], so the focus will be on the FD bridge in this
capacitance was done using the FD bridge in the quadrature
17 work.
phase at the frequency of 1.541 kHz.
18 The schematic of the FD bridge is shown in Fig. 4. The poly-
19 phase SWG has two-output channels with sinewave voltage
20 outputs. The SWGs are synchronized with a 10-MHz reference. A. The FD bridge evaluation
21 More details about SWG can be found in [9]. The SWG of G1A The FD bridge was used to compare various impedance ratio
22 supplies the reference voltage to the null detector of lock-in of C-C and R-R in 1 : 1 and 10 : 1 ratios. The measured ratio
23 amplifier model Signal Recovery 7280. G2A,B apply voltages to
24 was compared with the reference ratio, obtained using the same
the impedance standards of ZA,B as main voltage sources. G3A,B bridge in the DA mode of which the measurement ability has
25
inject voltages for the high potential arm balances through been proved to be 10-8 level at the best [9,11].
26
ZHCA,B. G4B injects a voltage for the low potential arm balance.
27
28 The injection voltages are applied through the injection
29 transformers of Tri, i =1 ~ 3. Thus, the bridge fulfils the 4-TP
30 definition for impedance measurements. A coaxial multiplexer
31 is embedded with the bridge in order to switch the measurand
32 points during the balancing procedure, and the bridge can be
33 controlled remotely via the LabView software. The automated
34 process enables the impedance ratio measurement by one-click
35 within a few minutes.
36 Under the FD mode, the impedance ratio of ZA and ZB can be
37 defined by the ratio of the supplied voltages of UA and UB as
38 below: Fig. 5. The difference of the capacitance ratio from the reference ratio against
39 the varying applied voltage at 1, 1.541 kHz for 1 nF : 1 nF.
ZA/ZB ≈ UA/UB (1)
40 where UA,B corresponds to the voltages applied by G2A,B First, the 1 : 1 capacitance ratio was measured using the FD
41
bridge. The ratio of 1 nF: 1 nF was measured by varying the
42
applied voltage at 1.025 kHz and 1.541 kHz then compared
43
44 with the ratio obtained using the DA bridge. The results are
45 presented in Fig. 5, and the agreement lie within ± 1 × 10 -6
46 regardless of the applied voltage.
47 The 10 : 1 capacitance ratio of 100 pF : 10 pF was measured
48 by varying the applied voltage at two frequencies of 1.025 kHz
49 and 1.541 kHz then compared with the reference ratio. As
50 shown in Fig. 6(a), the deviation of the measured ratio from the
51 reference ratio is in order of 10-7 at the best. The deviation at
52 1.541 kHz was larger by two orders at the low voltage of 1 V,
53 and there seems to be a minimum point near 2.5 V. Figure 6(b)
54 shows the Allan deviation analysis at 1.025 kHz and 5 V. The
55 residual voltage of the bridge after the balance reaches 3 nV at
56 about 200 s integration time. The 10 : 1 capacitance ratio was
57
also measured at 1.541 kHz for 1 nF : 100 pF. As presented in
58
Fig. 6(c), the deviations seem to also have minima near 2.5 V.
59
60 The 10 : 1 resistance ratio was measured using the FD bridge,
61 Fig. 4. Schematic of 4-terminal-pair fully digital bridge. and its deviation from the reference ratio is shown in Fig. 6(d).
62 The applied voltage could not be increased further due to the
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2 current limit for the 1 kΩ resistance standard, but the deviation about 50 micro-degree from 0 degree, meaning the relative
3 was minimum to be in order 10-6 at 2.5 V. The 10 : 1 ratio phase accuracy of the SWGs is quite good. However, as
4
measurement can have a larger measurement uncertainty when expected, the phase accuracy is worse for the 10 : 1 ratio
5
compared with the 1 : 1 ratio, for instance, due to the non- measurement condition. Nevertheless, the phase adjustment
6
7 linearity of the voltage sources which can lead to the voltage required was at the 10 milli-degree order at the worst, and it had
8 dependence. a negligible effect on the capacitance ratio.
9
10 B. Calibration of the 10 nF capacitance standard
11
12 Figure 7(a) shows the comparison result between the 10 nF
13 capacitance and the 10 kΩ resistance standards. The results
14 show that the measured ratio of the resistance to the capacitance
15 is in agreement of a few parts in 106 at the best when compared
16 with the reference ratio. The deviation showed a rather large
17 voltage dependence; the R-C ratio got differed by more than 10
18 × 10-6 when the applied voltage was increased from 0.25 V to 1
19 V. The Allan deviation is plotted in Fig. 7(b). The residual
20 voltage goes below 10 nV after about 300 s integration time.
21 The dissipation factor of the 10 nF capacitor was measured
22 to be -155 × 10-6 from the 10 kΩ : 10 nF comparison using the
23 FD bridge. The reference value of the dissipation factor of the
24 Fig. 6. (a) The deviation of the measured capacitance ratio from the reference 10 nF standard capacitor is -0.7 × 10-6, and by applying a phase
25 ratio for 100 pF : 10 pF against the varying applied voltage and (b) its Allan adjustment of 9 milli-degree, the measured value can become
26 deviation at 1.025 kHz and 5 V. (c) The deviation of the measured capacitance
ratio from the reference ratio for 1000 pF : 100 pF at 1.541 kHz. (d) The near the reference value. Further study about the phase
27
28 deviation of the measured resistance ratio from the reference ratio for 10 kΩ : adjustment/calibration will improve the measurement accuracy.
1 kΩ at 1 kHz..
29 TABLE I
30 Since the impedance is a complex number, the loss factor of THE MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTY OF THE FD QUADRATURE BRIDGE
31 the standard capacitor can also be obtained. For the capacitance FOR THE R-C RATIO OF 1 : 1

32 ratio measurement of 1 nF : 1 nF, the difference in the FD Quadrature bridge uncertainty

U (10-6) Type
33 dissipation factors of the capacitance standards, ΔDF = DFA – contribution
34 DFB was measured to be -2.5 × 10-6 at the applied voltage of 1 Voltage ratio accuracy 0.5 B
Phase accuracy 0.02 B
35 V. The reference value of ΔDF is -3.3 × 10-6, so the FD bridge Bridge Sensitivity 0.01 B
36 measurement result agrees well within the uncertainty of the Residual voltage 0.1 B
37 reference value. The phase of the G2B can be adjusted in the Repeatability 0.2 A
38 Combined uncertainty 0.55
calculation of the balance Eq. (1) so the measured value of ΔDF Expanded uncertainty (k = 2) 1.10
39 can become near the reference value. Thus adjusted phase was
40
41 TABLE II
CALIBRATION UNCERTAINTY FOR THE 10 NF CAPACITANCE FROM THE
42 DC QHR
43
44 10 nF calibration uncertainty contribution U (10-6)
45
Calibration of the 1 kΩ standard 0.01
46 using CCC bridge
47 Calibration of the 10 kΩ standard using DA bridge 0.1
48 Calibration of the 10 nF standard using the FD bridge 0.55
49 Combined uncertainty 0.56
Expanded uncertainty (k = 2) 1.12
50
51
52 The calibration uncertainty of the 10 nF capacitance from the
53 DC QHR was roughly estimated. The measurement
54 uncertainties for the CCC and DA bridges are already known,
55 so in this work, the measurement uncertainty of the FD bridge
56 was studied. The most significant uncertainty factor should
57 come from the voltage ratio of the two main SGWs when
58 looking at the bridge balance Eq. (1). The bridge measurement
59 accuracy strongly depends on how precise the SWG can
60 generate the supply voltage. The voltage ratio accuracy and
61 Fig. 7. (a) The deviation of the measured resistance to capacitance ratio from
the reference ratio and (b) its Allan deviation at 1.541 kHz, 0.25 V. stability of the two main SWGs (G2A,B) were evaluated using
62
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 5
1
2 an IVD to be better than 10-7. The stability of the SWGs can be in this work is reconfigurable in either DA or FD modes. The
3 indirectly seen from the Allan deviation analysis, and as shown bridge was first configured in the DA mode for the calibration
4
in the above figures, it is stable below 10-8. The voltage ratio of the 10 kΩ resistance against the 1 kΩ resistance which is
5
accuracy and stability also include the phase properties, and the traced to the DC QHR, then, reconfigured in the FD mode for
6
7 phase was accurate in the milli-degree order. The linearity of the direct comparison of the 10 kΩ resistance with the 10 nF
8 the SWG is another important factor especially for the ratio capacitance. In the process of following the traceability chain,
9 other than 1 : 1. Kucera et. al studied the linearity of the SWG the bridge measurement ability in the FD mode has been studied
10 to be better than 2 × 10-6 [13]. The 10 : 1 impedance ratio with the basic properties of the impedance standards of 1 kΩ
11 measurement in this study also showed that the measured AC-DC calculable resistor, 10 kΩ resistor, and 10 nF capacitor.
12 impedance ratio agree with the reference ratio in order of 10-7 The impedance standards were stable, and the FD bridge could
13 at the best. Other uncertainty factors were also considered as in measure the 1 : 1 or 10 : 1 C-C and R-R ratio with the accuracy
14 Table 1, and the combined uncertainty for the FD bridge in 1 : of 10-7 level at the best. Hence, the FD bridge was applied to
15 1 ratio for R-C was estimated to be 0.55 × 10-6. the R-C ratio measurement of 10 kΩ to 10 nF, and the
16 Finally, the calibration uncertainty of the 10 nF capacitance agreement with the reference value was a few parts in 106 at the
17 from the DC QHR can be calculated as in Table 2. The best with some voltage dependence which needs to be studies
18 contributions to the uncertainty include the calibration further.
19 uncertainties of the impedance standards of the 1 kΩ AC-DC
20 calculable resistor and the 10 kΩ resistor using the CCC bridge
21
and the 10 : 1 ratio DA bridge, respectively. REFERENCES
22
23
24 [1] M. Thompson, “An absolute determination of resistance based on a
calculable standard of capacitance”, Metrologia, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1-7,
25
1968.
26 [2] Awan S A, Jones RG and Kibble B P 2003, “Evaluation of coaxial bridge
27 systems for accurate determination of the SI Farad from the DC quantum
28 Hall effect”, Metrologia 40 264-70.
29 [3] J. Schurr, V. Burkel, and B. P. Kibble, “Realizing the farad from two ac
30 quantum Hall resistances”, Metrologia, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 619-628, 2009.
31 [4] A. D. Inglis, B. M. Wood, M. Cote, R. B. Young, and M. D. Early, “Direct
32 determination of capacitance standards using a quadrature bridge and a
pair of quantized Hall resistors”, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 52, no.
33 2, pp. 559-562, Apr. 2003.
34 [5] L. Callegaro, V. D’Elia, and B. Trinchera, “Realization of the farad from
35 the dc quantum Hall effect with digitally assisted impedance bridges”,
36 Metrologia, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 464-472, 2010.
37 [6] D. B. Kim, D. M, Kassim, W. S. Kim, L. Callegaro, V. D’elia, B.
38 Trinchera, J. Kucera, and R. Sedlacek, "Traceability Chain at KRISS from
39 DC Quantum Hall Resistance to Farad Using Coaxial Bridges," IEEE
Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 68, no. 6, pp. 1941-1947, June 2019.
40
Fig. 8. The capacitance ratio difference from the nominal ratio against the [7] L. Callegaro, “Electrical Impedance: Principles, Measurement, and
41 Applications”, CRC Press, 2012.
applied voltage obtained by (a) the digitally assisted and (b) the fully digital
42 [8] F. Overney, F. Luond, and B. Jeanneret, “Broadband fully automated
bridges for 10 nF : 1 nF at 1 kHz
43 digitally assisted coaxial bridge for high accuracy impedance ratio
44 The uncertainty analysis above does not include the voltage measurements”, Metrologia, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 918-926, 2016.
45 dependence of the FD bridge. Figure 8 shows the 10 : 1 [9] J. Kucera and J. Kovac, “A reconfigurable four terminal-pair digitally
46 capacitance ratio measurement results for the 10 nF : 1 nF assisted and fully digital impedance ratio bridge,” IEEE Trans. Instrum.
47 Meas., vol. 67, pp. 1199-1206, 2018.
obtained by (a) DA and (b) FD bridges. In the case of the DA [10] N. T. M. Tran, D. B. Kim, W. S. Kim, “Calibration of 10 nF Capacitance
48 bridge, the voltage dependence can be neglected at least within Standard from dc QHR using a Digital Impedance Bridge”, CPEM 2020
49 the range of 0.5 × 10-6 while a relatively large fluctuation can Conf. digest, August 17th, 2020.
50 be observed against the varying applied voltage in the FD mode. [11] D. B. Kim and W. S. Kim, “Performance Study of a Digital Impedance
51 Bridge on the basis of Capacitance Measurements in Audio Frequency”,
This implies that the SWGs of the FD bridge may have related CPEM 2020 Conf. digest, August 17th, 2020.
52
with the unexpected voltage dependence. Yet, as presented in [12] L. Callegaro, V. D’Elia, M. Kampik, D. B. Kim, M. Ortolano, and F.
53 Pourdanesh, “Experiences With a Two-Terminal-Pair Digital Impedance
Fig. 5, the 1 : 1 capacitance ratio measurements using the FD
54 Bridge”, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 64, no. 6, June 2015.
55 bridge did not show any evidence about the voltage [13] J. Kucera, J. Kovac, L. Palafox, R. Behr and L. Vojackova,
56 dependence. Further studies are required for the voltage “Characterization of a precision modular sinewave generator”, Meas.
dependence of the FD bridge. Sci. Technol. 31, 064002, 2020.
57
58
59 IV. CONCLUCION
60 A multi-purpose digital bridge has been employed for tracing
61 the 10 nF capacitance from the DC QHR. The bridge employed
62
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 6
1
2 Ngoc Thanh Mai Tran was born in Ho
3 Chi Minh city, Vietnam, in 1992. She
4 received the B.Sc. degree and the M.Sc.
5 degree in Electronic Engineering from
6 the Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy, in
7 2014 and 2017, respectively, and she did
8 her master’s thesis at the National
9 Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ). She
10 is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in Metrology with the
11
Politecnico di Torino and the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca
12
Metrologica, Turin, where she is involved in several projects
13
related to the metrology of electrical impedance. She is
14
currently a guest researcher at the Korea Research Institute of
15
Standards and Science (KRISS).
16
17
Wan-Seop Kim received Diplom degree in
18
physics and Ph. D degree in experimental
19
20 condensed matter physics from university
21 of Duisburg, Germany, in 1993 and 1998,
22 respectively. From 1999 to 2001, he did
23 research in the field of colossal
24 magnetoresistance in a postdoctoral
25 position in Korea Research Institute of
26 Standards and Science (KRISS). Since
27 January 2002, he joined the Center for Electricity, KRISS,
28 where he has been engaged in development of cryogenic current
29 comparator, quantized Hall resistance measurements and DC
30 low-current standards. Now, He is in charge of impedance
31 standards.
32
33 Dan Bee Kim received the B.S. degree in
34 physics from Yonsei University, Seoul,
35 Korea, in 2004, and the Ph.D. degree in
36 physics from the Korea Advanced Institute
37 of Science and Technology, Daejeon,
38 Korea, in 2010. She joined the Korea
39 Research Institute of Standards and
40 Science, Daejeon, in 2010. Her current
41 research interests include the low frequency
42 electrical impedance, such as electrical capacitance, inductance,
43 ac resistance, and ac voltage ratio.
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
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Copy of Proceedings Papers

Calibration of 10 nF Capacitance Standard from dc QHR using a Digital

Impedance Bridge
Ngoc Thanh Mai Tran*§, Wan-Seop Kim†, and Dan Bee Kim†
*
Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, Turin 10135, Italy
†
Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, 267 Gajeongno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea
§
Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin 10129, Italy
(danbeek@kriss.re.kr)

Abstract — This paper describes a calibration method for 10 The bridge can also be operated in a fully digital (FD) mode
nF capacitance standard from the primary standard of dc under which unlike impedances can be compared directly.
quantum Hall resistance using a multi-purpose digital coaxial
bridge. The capacitance standard of 10 nF was calibrated by a Thus, the 10 kΩ standard resistor was compared with the 10 nF
direct comparison against the ac resistance standard of 10 standard capacitor using the FD bridge in the quadrature mode.
kΩ―its resistance value is traced to the quantum Hall
resistance―using the digital bridge in the fully digital quadrature
mode. The preliminary calibration value of the 10 nF was
confirmed by comparing with a reference capacitance standard
within uncertainty level of 10-6.
Index Terms — Capacitance measurement, Calibration,
Measurement uncertainty.

I. INTRODUCTION
The capacitance can be traced from the primary standards of
either Thompson-Lampard Calculable Cross Capacitor or
quantum Hall resistor (QHR) [1-4]. KRISS has a well
established primary resistance standard scale realized from the
dc QHR [5,6]. However, in order to replace the artifact of the
resistance standards, further studies are being done for the ac
QHR based on the graphene devices.
In this work, for the ultimate goal of tracing the capacitance
from the ac QHR (dashed arrow, the right part of Fig. 1),
preliminary studies have been done for the evaluation and
calibration of 10 nF capacitance standard using a multi-purpose
and fully automated digital bridge as shown in the left part of
Fig. 1 (solid arrow).
II. EXPERIMENTAL
The dc resistance value of 1 kΩ ac-dc calculable standard
resistor was measured using a cryogenic current comparator
(CCC) bridge (Magnicon GmbH) with uncertainty of a few
parts in 109. The reference resistance value of 100 Ω standard
resistor was given by the primary standard of dc QHR (RK/2 ≈
12906.4 Ω, where RK is the von Klitzing constant).
Based on the dc resistance value of 1 kΩ ac-dc calculable
resistor standard, the ac resistance value of 10 kΩ resistor
standard was measured using a 4 terminal pair digitally assisted
(DA) coaxial bridge. The bridge was developed by Kucera et
al. at CMI, and its measurement uncertainty can be a few parts
in 108 at the best under the DA mode [7]. The measurements
were done at about 1 kHz.
Fig. 1. Traceability chain from QHR standard to 10 nF standard.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A. 1 kΩ ac-dc calculable resistance standard
The evaluation of 1 kΩ ac-dc calculable standard resistor―
fabricated at LNE as a Haddad-type―has been done for more
than two years in terms of its stability and temperature. The
standard is placed in a temperature control chamber for a better
stability. The dc resistance measurements conducted by direct
current comparator (DCC) and CCC bridges show a daily drift
of about 3 × 10-9 as presented in Fig. 2.
B. 10 kΩ ac resistance standard
The 10 kΩ ac resistance standard, made of Vishay resistor
(516-4 model) was built in temperature control enclosure. Its ac
resistance value has been calibrated regularly for a quite long
time. The red circles of Fig. 3 in the grey shaded region are the
calibration values obtained from NPL, and the last black circle
is the calibration value obtained from the new chain of Fig. 1.
The 10 kΩ ac standard resistor is stable within daily drift of
about 2 × 10-9.
C. Comparison of the resistance and the capacitance

978-1-7281-5898-3/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE

 10 nF capacitance standard is a commercial model of iET capacitance standards maintained at KRISS. Further
1404-10nF. Under the ambient environment, a rather large measurements will be done to improve the measurement
capacitance change was observed due to a large temperature uncertainty.
coefficient, so the standard was placed in a temperature control ambient
1.0
chamber. As a result, the short-term stability got better without chamber

C/C (10 )
a drift as depicted in Fig. 4 along with the average of the

-6
adjacent 10 data (solid line). 0.5
Afterwards, a direct comparison between the 10 kΩ
resistance and the 10 nF capacitance has been done using the 0.0
FD quadrature bridge, and the preliminary results showed that
thus calibrated capacitance value of 10 nF standard is in -0.5
agreement of 10-6 level when compared with the reference 0 12 24
capacitance standards maintained at KRISS. Time (h)
Fig. 4. The relative change of the capacitance over time with the
0.9999875
capacitor standard placed at outside cross or inside open circle of the
CCC
0.9999870 temperature control chamber. The solid lines are average of adjacent
R (k)

10 data.
0.9999865

0.9999860 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
0.9999855 This research was supported by the Research on Redefinition
of SI Base Units (KRISS-2020-GP2020-0001) funded by the
8 8 8 9 9 0
/1 /1 /1 /1 /1 /2 Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science. This work
/15 /15 /15 /15 /15 /15
01 06 11 04 09 02 also contributes to the progress of the Joint Research Project
Date (MM/DD/YY) GIQS (18SIB07) funded by the European Metrology
Fig. 2. Stability of the 1 kΩ ac-dc calculable standard resistor Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) co-financed
standard. Solid line is a linear fit to the data. by the Participating States and from the European Unions’
9.99990 Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
(NRF+BIA).
9.99985
R (k)

9.99980
REFERENCES
[1] A. M. Thompson, “An Absolute Determination of Resistance
9.99975 new chain Based on a Calculable Standard of Capacitance,” Metrologia, vol.
4, pp. 1-7, 1968.
[2] H. Bachmair, H. Fleischer, K. Fleischhauer, V. Graetsch, R. Hanke,
9.99970
H. Leontiew, and S. Schmidt, “Determination of the SI Unit Ohm
07 11 15 19
5/ 5/ 5/ 5/ Based on a Calculable Cross Capacitor,” Metrologia, vol. 22, pp.
2/1 2/1 2/1 2/1
1 1 1 1 223-225, 1986.
Date (MM/DD/YY) [3] S. A. Awan, R. G. Jones, and B. P. Kibble, “Evaluation of coaxial
Fig. 3. Stability of the 10 kΩ resistor standard. bridge systems for accurate determination of the SI Farad from
the DC quantum Hall effect,” Metrologia, vol. 40, pp. 264–270,
2003.
IV. CONCLUSION [4] J. Schurr, V. Burkel, and B. P. Kibble, “Realizing the farad from
two ac quantum Hall resistances,” Metrologia, vol. 46, pp.619-
The capacitance value of 10 nF corresponds to the impedance 628, 2009.
of about 10 kΩ (at 1.592 kHz) which is the level of the QHR [5] W. S. Kim, K. M. Yu, M. S. Kim, P. G. Park, and K. T. Kim,
(RK/2 ≈ 12.906.4 kΩ). Thus, a traceability chain has been set “Precise Measurement of the Quantized Hall Resistance on the
Basis of a Cryogenic Current Comparator,” J. Korean Phys.
up for the evaluation and calibration of 10 nF standard capacitor Society, vol. 58, pp. 339-1342, 2011.
based on the primary standard of dc QHR. The dc resistance [6] D. B. Kim, D. M. Kassim, W. S. Kim , L. Callegaro, V. D’Elia, B.
value was transferred to the ac resistance using a Haddad-type Trinchera, J. Kucera, and R. Sedlacek, “Traceability Chain at
calculable resistor of 1 kΩ against which the ac resistor of 10 KRISS from DC Quantum Hall Resistance to Farad Using
kΩ was calibrated using 10 : 1 ratio DA bridge. The capacitance Coaxial Bridges,” IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 68, pp. 1941-
1947, 2019.
of 10 nF standard was then measured by a direct comparison [7] J. Kucera and J. Kovac, “A reconfigurable four terminal-pair
against the ac resistor of 10 kΩ using the digital bridge in the digitally assisted and fully digital impedance ratio bridge,” IEEE
FD quadrature mode. The preliminary measurements agreed Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 67, pp. 1199-1206, 2018.
with a level of 10-6 when compared with the reference
List of Extensions

“Calibration of 10 nF Capacitance Standard from DC Quantum Hall Resistance using a Digital

Impedance Bridge” by Ngoc Thanh Mai Tran, Wan-Seop Kim, and Dan Bee Kim

1. Section II (Experimental) has been expanded with figures 1~4, presenting full details
about the impedance standards and bridges together with the traceability chain.

2. Section III (Results and Discussions) has been expanded:

A. Evaluation of the fully digital bridge using capacitance and AC resistance standards
in terms of the accuracy in the ratio measurements in 1 : 1 and 10 : 1 including the

loss terms (Fig. 5, 6).

B. The direct comparison between the AC resistance and capacitance has been done

(Fig. 7).

C. The uncertainty budget (Table 1~2) has been added.

D. The comparison between the DA and FD bridges (Fig. 8).