Zeina Jabbour, Patrick Abbott, Edwin Williams, Ruimin Liu, Vincent Lee
Magnetic Levitation System for the Dissemination of a Non-Artifact Based Kilogram
We describe a new approach to directly link air and vacuum mass measurements. This approach uses magnetic levitation along with vacuum and balance technology to realize vacuum mass measurements. It provides direct traceability to the International Prototype Kilogram through the U.S. national prototypes without the intermediary use of vacuum artifacts. This approach will provide a direct link between the national standard of mass currently defined in air and the vacuum-based realizations founded on fundamental constants. We describe the proof-of-concept experiment, basic operation principles and challenges, initial modeling calculations, preliminary results, and the next generation system and future expectations.