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Acoustic thermometry and cavity dimensions
Primary acoustic gas thermometry is based of the relationship between the speed of
sound in a monatomic gas and its thermodynamic temperature. The speed of sound is
inferred from the resonance frequencies of a cylindrical or spherical cavity.
Converting the acoustic frequencies to speed of sound requires accurate measurements
of the size and thermal expansion of the cavity. One method of achieving this is by
measuring the microwave resonance frequencies of the cavity.
Cylinder microwave resonance modes
In a cylinder, two types of resonance mode are supported: Transverse magnetic (TM) and
transverse electric (TE).
Each mode is specied by three indices,
(n, p, q), which are related to the number
of eld nodes in the azimuthal, radial
and longitudinal directions respectively.
The frequency of a given mode depends
on the mode eigenvalue and wave
speed, both of which are calculable,
and the radius and length of the cavity.
Hence if two or more mode frequencies
are measured, the radius and length can
be calculated.
Prototype aluminium resonator
Machined from 6082-T6 aluminium alloy.
Radius=35mm, length=100mm.
Lowest mode frequency: 2.9GHz (TE111).
For the experiments described here, the
device was placed in a vacuum chamber
and equipped with a temperature
control system.
Problems with the cylinder to end-plate join
Imperfections in the join between the end-plates and body of the cylinder can cause
excess broading of resonances, leading to errors in the inferred dimensions.
The most commonly-used modes are the TM0pq modes. These have high surface
current densities around the join, which exacerbates the problem.
Using the TE0pq modes vastly reduces this eect, as this family of modes have surface
current densities that vanish at the join.
Resolving degenerate modes
Unlike the TM0pq modes, the TE0pq modes are degenerate in frequency with the
TM1pq modes. In order to t a resonance function the TE modes must somehow be
isolated.
This was achieved by coupling to the modes
with looped antennas, placed in holes half-
way down the cylinder body. The TM1pq
modes with even values of q have a node in
the magnetic eld at these positions, and
are therefore not excited. The degenerate
TE0pq (even q) modes are excited, and can
be measured with high accuracy.
The gure to the right shows a TE011
sweep. The t residuals show evidence of
TM111 mode excitation, but the amplitude
is ~1000 times less.
Resonance widths
The dierence between the theoretical and measured resonance widths is a good
indication of the reliability of a mode.
The width of a given mode can be calculated from the electrical resistivity of the cavity
material. Conversely, the measured width
can be interpreted as an apparent resistivity,
which can be compared with reference
values taken from literature.
In the aluminium resonator, the agreement
between measurements and reference
values was much better for the TE0pq modes
than the TM0pq modes.
This shows that the wall to end-plate
junction does cause excess broadening, and
that this eect is mitigated by the use of the
TE0pq modes.
Thermal expansion
The frequencies of seven TM modes and six TE modes were measured at temperatures
between 30C and 100C.
At each temperature, the radius and length
values were tted by minimising the
frequency residuals. These were dened
as the fractional dierence between the
measured mode frequency and that
expected from the radius and length values.
The TM and TE data sets were tted
separately, to highlight the dierences
between them. The TE modes gave much
more consistent results, with the residuals
being ~4 times smaller.
Conclusions
Dimensional measurements are an essential part of primary acoustic gas thermometry
(AGT). In the past, microwave resonance techniques have been sucessfully applied to
spherical cavity resonators. With several groups looking to use cylindrical resonators for
AGT, investigations into microwave measurements for cylindrical cavities are in progress.
The accuracy of these measurements can be improved by using the TE0pq modes, which
are less sensitive to imperfections in the cylinder to end-plate join. When compared
to the TM0pq modes, the dispersion in the radius and length values obtained for the
cylinder is considerably reduced.
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Temperature, C
TE011
TE013
TE015
TE021
TE023
TE025
Ref.

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Temperature, C

www.npl.co.uk
Microwave dimensional measurements
of cylindrical resonators for
primary acoustic thermometry
Robin Underwood
National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, United Kingdom
Electric eld density
TM010 TE011
TM011 TE011
High current
density
around join.
Zero current
density
around join.