Influence of the Opening of a Blackbody Cavity Measured at the Ag and Cu ITS-90 Fixed Points

The International Temperature Scale of 1990 blackbody fixed points are commonly composed of a graphite crucible containing a pure metal enclosing a radiating blackbody cavity. The shape of the cavity is determined to behave as much as possible as a perfect blackbody; however, the opening from which the radiance is measured induces radiative losses. The measured temperature is therefore underestimated by a few tens of millikelvins at C, compared to that of a perfect blackbody. The difference is due, on the one hand, to the drop of emissivity caused by the opening, and on the other hand, to the temperature drop between the solid/liquid interface and the inner wall of the cavity, observed by the radiation thermometer. The temperature drop is generally estimated by modeling the emissivity and the temperature difference across the cavity wall. This approach is relevant as long as the temperature distribution along the cavity and the graphite properties are known, but in many cases, the lack of data does not allow precise determination of the corrections. The corrections for the temperature drop and emissivity drop, which both depend on the cavity opening, can be determined experimentally with a low uncertainty by measuring the temperature of a fixed point for different cavity openings. To be significant, the measurement requires a source stable within a few millikelvins. In this study, this constraint has been solved by changing the cavity opening during the phase transition of the fixed point, with a rotating wheel supporting apertures of different dimensions. Measurements have been performed at the Ag and Cu fixed points during the freezing plateaus. Experimental results are presented and compared to those obtained by modeling.