Compact blackbody-radiation atomic sensor: Measuring temperature using optically excited atoms in vapor cells
We demonstrate a blackbody-radiation thermometer based on optically excited rubidium atoms in a vapor cell. The temperature measurement is fast, with statistical uncertainty as low as 0.1% in one second. We resolve temperature with a precision of 0.04% in the range 308--344 K when averaging for several seconds. Additionally, we describe an extension to this measurement scheme where the device operates as a self-calibrated, or primary, thermometer. We make progress toward realizing a primary thermometer by demonstrating a temperature-dependent self-consistent calibration scheme, with temperature accuracy of the order of 1% limited by the uncertainty in atomic transition dipole matrix elements.
Authors
- Stephen Eckel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8887-0320)
- Christopher L. Holloway (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4592-9935)
- Matthew T. Simons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9418-7520)
- David La Mantia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1792-0631)
- Eric B. Norrgard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8715-4648)
- Nikunjkumar Prajapati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7779-9741)
- Noah Schlossberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9573-8152)
- Julia Scherschligt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4965-0103)
- M.K. Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6203-2399)
Institutions
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (US)
- National Institute of Standards (EG)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Applied
- Published
- 2025-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.23.044037
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.25
Funders
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency