Boltzmann constant determined by fluorescent spectroscopy for verifying thermometers

Abstract

As is always accompanying temperature in physics fundamental principles, Boltzmann constant k_B can be used to verify the accuracy of a thermometer. This paper presents a photoluminescent method to measure k_B via temperature dependent fluorescence of phosphors. Diagram of a phosphor’s energy levels was simplified to illustrate the principle of measurement. The relationship between k_B and h*c (Planck constant h multiplying light speed in vacuum c) was experimentally derived. Finally, the determined k_B was 1.38065 × 10^-23 J/K. The determination could give a value of (1.38±0.1) × 10^-23 J/K even when the in-use spectrometer was with a poor resolution as about 2 nm. At the end, optimization of measuring conditions for the determination process was suggested.

Keywords

temperature / Boltzmann constant (k_B) / Planck constant (h)

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Acknowledgement

This work was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61167007) and the Foundation of Aeronautics (No. 2012ZD56007).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg