A Distributed Artifact Standard of Voltage

The artifact standard, an object which embodies the physical quantity to be standardized, has served the metrology community well. Its great merits are its stability and the precision with which it can be compared to other like artifacts. Its use as the basis of a measurement system is not without drawbacks however. Among these are: its definition may be arbitrary, it is maintained by a national or international standardizing laboratory and is not accessible to the user, and it is subject to loss or damage through accident, sabotage, or act of war. An extension of the NBS Volt Transfer Program is capable of providing what may be termed a "Distributed Artifact Standard" of dc voltage. Such a standard will maintain the value of the volt in the universe of artifact standards maintained by the standards laboratories of the measurement community. This standard has none of the objectionable properties cited. It is accessible, it is immune to loss or damage, and it can be certified in terms of the absolute standards maintained by the national standards institutes. The theoretical and empirical basis for such a distributed artifact standard is presented.