First Direct Comparison of a Cryocooler-Based Josephson Voltage Standard System at 10 V

A commercially available and fully automated 10-V Josephson voltage standard system with a liquid helium free cooling has been developed as a result of the cooperation between the Institute of Photonic Technology and Supracon AG, both in Jena, Germany. The system operates with an array of 19 700 superconductor-insulator-superconductor Josephson tunnel junctions installed in a pulse tube cooler. A stable operation is achieved by the proper integration of the voltage standard circuit to the cold stage of the cryocooler. Different operation setups are discussed. A direct comparison of a cryocooler-based Josephson voltage standard system versus a liquid-helium-based system was performed at a voltage level of 10 V. We obtained a voltage difference of 1.3 nV with a total combined uncertainty of 2 nV. This corresponds to a relative uncertainty of 2times10^-10.