New Capability for Generating and Measuring Small DC Currents at NPL

Author

Fletcher, Nick E. ; Giblin, Stephen P. ; Williams, Jonathan M. ; Lines, Keith J.

Author_Institution

National Phys. Lab., Teddington

Volume

56

Issue

2

fYear

2007

fDate

4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

326

Lastpage

330

Abstract

This paper describes two systems recently developed at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, U.K., for the generation and measurement of dc currents in the range 100 fA to 1 nA. Both systems are based on the capacitor charging technique. One system generates known currents, and constitutes a new reference at NPL. The other was designed to meet the traceability requirements of the Ionizing Radiation sections of NPL and combines commercially available instrumentation and standards to produce a reliable stand-alone system for measuring small currents

Keywords

calibration; capacitance measurement; electric current measurement; instrumentation; measurement standards; voltage measurement; calibration; capacitance; current measurement; small DC currents; voltage measurement; Capacitors; Circuits; Current measurement; DC generators; Electrical resistance measurement; Instruments; Ionizing radiation; Laboratories; Resistors; Voltage measurement; Calibration; capacitance; current measurement; voltage measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIM.2007.890789

Filename

4126857