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Bridges for calibrating four-terminal-pair standards of self-inductance at frequencies up to 10

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2009 Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 025105

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IOP PUBLISHING MEASUREMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 025105 (6pp) doi:10.1088/0957-0233/20/2/025105

Bridges for calibrating four-terminal-pair

standards of self-inductance at
frequencies up to 10 kHz
R Sedlacek and J Bohacek
Department of Measurement, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague,
Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague 6, Czech Republic
E-mail: sedlacr@fel.cvut.cz and bohacek@fel.cvut.cz

Received 26 August 2008, in final form 3 November 2008

Published 17 December 2008
Online at stacks.iop.org/MST/20/025105

Abstract
Two bridges for calibrating four-terminal-pair (4TP) standards of self-inductance in the
frequency range from 500 Hz to 10 kHz are described. The first is a multifrequency
double-balance bridge for linking inductance to capacitance and the second one is a modified
MaxwellWien bridge, in which inductive voltage dividers in conjunction with fixed resistance
and capacitance standards are used as balance controls. Precision voltage followers serving as
unity-gain isolators assure that negligible currents are drawn from high potential terminals of
4TP bridge elements. When a procedure based on the interchange of the followers is applied,
the effect of their gain errors is minimized and, for example, the value of a 100 mH inductor
can then be measured with an uncertainty (k = 2) less than 2 H at 1 kHz.
Keywords: inductance standard, calibration, coaxial bridges

1. Introduction Another difficulty arises when 2T or 3T reference standards

Mainly four-terminal-pair (4TP) facilities [1] are presently
used in the most accurate measurements of ac resistance and
capacitance made at national metrology institutes (NMIs) and
in other laboratories. In addition to special 4TP bridges
developed and realized at these institutions, commercially
available high-accuracy electronic LCR meters are often
employed. Sets of 4TP resistors and capacitors commonly
serve as reference standards in traceable calibrations of these
meters.
Of course, electronic LCR meters also measure 4TP
inductances. Nevertheless, this possibility is seldom utilized,
as most often only inductances of two-terminal (2T) or three-
terminal (3T) standards have to be measured.
At present, 2T and 3T inductance standards and
measurement methods are used even at the highest accuracy
level. By means of such standards, the inductance unit and its
scale are maintained at the majority of NMIs, where various
modifications of a MaxwellWien bridge are often used in
inductance calibrations.
When a 2T or 3T inductor has to be calibrated, two
separate measurements of inductance are necessary, one
of them being performed with the inductor short-circuited.
of inductance are employed to calibrate a 4TP LCR meter. In
that case, 2T/4TP or 3T/4TP adapters must be used, which
always leads to reduction of calibration accuracy.
Since more frequent utilization of 4TP inductance
standards can be expected in the future, increased attention has
been recently paid to the development of new setups for their
calibration [24]. This paper describes two different bridges
applicable to these calibrations developed at the Department
of Measurements, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech
Technical University (CTU): a double-balance bridge which
has originally been prepared for measurements in the
framework of No. 607 EUROMET Project, and a modified
MaxwellWien bridge utilizing two-stage inductive voltage
dividers as balance controls. Both these bridges are of coaxial
design, but, for simplicity of drawing, their shields and current
equalizers are not shown in figures 2 and 4, where their circuit
diagrams are given.
2. Double-balance bridge
The principle of the double-balance bridge is apparent from
figure 1, where Lp and Rp are the parallel equivalent inductance

0957-0233/09/025105+06$30.00 1 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 025105 R Sedlacek and J Bohacek

Lp C Lx
R1 R2 R3 Cw
Tr Rx
Rp R
D2 D1
VL D1 Va D2 R4
VR VC Rw
C4 R2

Figure 1. Principle of the double-balance bridge. Figure 3. MaxwellWien bridge equipped with a Wagner earthing
device.

and resistance of the inductor to be calibrated, respectively,
C is a reference capacitance, R is a variable resistance and
R1, R2 are the resistances of the bridge ratio arms, which are
formed by 10 k and 100 k precision metal foil resistors,
respectively.
Zero readings of detectors D1 and D2 can be secured by
varying the voltages V L , VC , VR and Va . Balance conditions
are
1 R1 VL
Lp = 2 (1)
C R2 VC
and
R1 VL
Rp = R . (2)
R2 VR
In the actual bridge circuit (figure 2), voltages VL , VC and
VR are derived from the bridge supply voltage by means of a
precision ratio transformer (Tr1) combined with eight-decade
two-stage inductive voltage dividers (ID1, ID2 and ID3). An
RC phase shifter (resistance Rph and capacitance Cph) followed
by an eight-decade inductive voltage divider (ID4) serves as
a source of Va . Currents drawn from the ratio windings of
the dividers ID1, ID2 and ID3 can be suppressed by properly
adjusting Ra1, Ra2, Ct and Ca. Further details are given in
[68].
In the framework of No. 607 EUROMET Project (now
Supplementary Comparison EUROMET.EM-S20 [5]), where
Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM) acted as
the pilot laboratory, the double-balance bridge was used at
the Czech Technical University to measure the 4TP value of a
100 mH traveling standard at 1 kHz. At INRIM, the value of
this standard was measured by means of a system based on a
4TP implementation of the three-voltage method. The results
of these two measurements agreed within the uncertainty of
the CTU result, which was estimated to be 6.2 H for a
95% confidence level. The difference of these results was
2.5 H [9].
3. Four-terminal-pair MaxwellWien bridge
3.1. Principle of the bridge
The MaxwellWien bridge and its various modifications have
long been used for calibrating 2T and 3T inductance standards

ID4
Tr2 Rph
Cph

Tr1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10
5
Ct
Ca
Ra1 ID1 ID2 ID3
Ra2

Inductor R1 R2
C
L
D1 Rc1 Rc2 D2
R

Figure 2. Double-balance bridge (open circles denote current terminals of elements L, R1, R2, C and R).

2
Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 025105 R Sedlacek and J Bohacek

VF1
Tr1 HP G=1

Lx

Inductor
G1
master
V1
R3
Rx
LP D1 D2
Phase synchronisation

R4 C4
R2 VF2
HP G=1

ID1 ID2
Tr2 n1 DTr1 n2 DTr2

G2 0
D3 D4
V2 n
slave 2n R5 C5

ID3
n3 n4
CA RA
ID4

Figure 4. Four-terminal-pair MaxwellWien bridge.

Tr2 Tr2
n3 n4
G2 2n ID3 G2 2n
n ID4
V2 R5 V2 n C5
0 n1 DTr1 0 n2 DTr2

D3 R4 D4 C4
ID1 ID2

Figure 5. RR and CC bridges.

at a number of laboratories [10]. A simple form of this been found that application of two one-channel generators
bridge is shown in figure 3, where Lx and Rx are the series (e.g. Agilent 33220) employing the PLL function for phase
equivalent inductance and resistance of the standard to be synchronization is not acceptable due to mutual amplitude
calibrated, respectively. The bridge is balanced by means or phase instability (jitter) of the generators, which affects
of variable components R4, C4 (main balance) and Rw , Cw periodically the readings of the detectors. The bridge is
(Wagner balance). Especially, in the case of low-value balanced if all four detectors are nulled (in fact, only two
inductance standards, impedances of connecting leads must be SR830 DSP lock-in amplifiers serve as balance detectors and
taken into account when corrections of calibration results are rotate between positions D1 and D3 or D2 and D4 in the course
calculated. For evaluation of these impedances, an additional of balancing).
measurement must be made after short-circuiting the standard The 4TP definition requires an unloaded high-potential
by a low-resistance link. port (HP) of the inductance standard and a zero voltage across
With regard to the need to have two different its low-potential port (LP). The first of these requirements is
4TP calibration setups for comparison purposes, a 4TP met by a precision voltage follower VF1 serving as unity-gain
modification of the MaxwellWien bridge (figure 4) has been isolator. The second one is satisfied by varying magnitude and
realized in addition to the already existing double-balance phase of the output voltage of generator G2. The fulfillment
bridge. In contrast to the simple bridge in figure 2, where of the second requirement is indicated by zero reading of
the balance is made by means of a variable resistor and a detector D1.
variable capacitor, the bridge in figure 4 utilizes two-stage The second voltage follower, VF2, assures that negligible
inductive voltage dividers ID1 and ID2 in conjunction with current is drawn from the high-potential terminal of
fixed components R4 and C4 as main balance controls. This resistor R2.
bridge is supplied from two phase-synchronized generators G1, Table 1 summarizes the resistances and capacitances of
G2 (two outputs of an HP3245 A universal source), separated all bridge components. In table 2, the measuring ranges of the
by means of two isolating transformers Tr1 and Tr2. It has bridge and the corresponding range resistances R2 are shown.

3
Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 025105 R Sedlacek and J Bohacek

Table 1. Bridge components.

Bridge
component Nominal value Note
R2 Decadic values from Vishay thin film resistorS102 K series
10  to 10 k
R3 10 k Vishay thin film resistorS102 K series
R4 100 k Vishay thin film resistorS102 K series
R5 100 k Vishay thin film resistorS102 K series
C4 10 nF Mica capacitor
C5 10 nF Mica capacitor

Table 2. Measuring ranges of the bridge.

VF1
Measurement range Range resistance (R2) V1 V3
G=1
1 mH 10 
10 mH 100  Z1 Z3
100 mH 1 k
1H 10 k D1 D2
Z2 Z4
VF2
3.2. Suppression of currents loading the main bridge dividers G=1
V2 V4
To avoid ratio errors due to the loading of dividers ID1 and
ID2, currents flowing from their tappings must be suppressed Figure 6. Four-arm impedance bridge.
by properly setting the ratios of auxiliary dividers ID3 and
ID4. As can be seen from figure 5 where respective parts The bridge is balanced when
from figure 4 are redrawn, dividers ID3 and ID4 together with V1 Z1 V3 Z3
dividers ID1 and ID2 form variable arms of an RR and a CC = , = . (6)
V2 Z2 V4 Z4
bridge. When these bridges are balanced, detectors D3 and D4 Combining (4) and (6) gives
read zero and the loading of ID1 and ID2 is eliminated.
The balance conditions are Z2 Z3 k2 ej2
Z1 = . (7)
2n3 n1 R5 2n4 n2 C4 Z4 k1 ej1
= , = , (3) Now, if the followers are interchanged and the bridge is
n1 R4 n2 C5
rebalanced by changing the values of the arm impedances from
where n1, n2, n3 and n4 are settings of ID1, ID2, ID3 and ID4, Z 2, Z 3 and Z 4 to Z2 , Z3 and Z4 , the unknown impedance Z 1 is
respectively. If R4 = R5 and C4 = C5, the balance conditions given by
reduce to n1 = n3 and n2 = n4, respectively. DTr1 and DTr2
Z2 Z3 k1 ej1
are 1:100 current detection transformers. Z1 = . (8)
Z4 k2 ej2
3.3. Elimination of the effect of gain errors of voltage By combining (7) and (8), we have

followers Z2 Z3 Z2 Z3
Z1 = . (9)
Fast FET operational amplifiers (AD8065) have been used Z4 Z4
in the construction of precision voltage followers for the It is clear that if the unknown impedance Z 1 is calculated
MaxwellWien bridge. Gain errors of these followers have as a geometric mean of the results of the two measurements
been measured in the frequency range up to 10 kHz [11] and, described above, the effect of the gain errors of the voltage
in principle, their known values could be used in calculating followers is eliminated.
the corrections of the measurement results. Nevertheless, the To ensure the same loading of the followers in both their
elimination of their effect by a method based on the interchange positions, an auxiliary resistance of a value equal to R3 is
of the followers is more practical. connected in parallel with the ratio windings of dividers ID1
For explanation of the principle of that method, a four-arm and ID2 (this resistance is not shown in figure 4).
impedance bridge containing followers VF1 and VF2 is shown
in figure 6. In this figure, 3.4. Balance procedure and balance conditions
V3 = V1 A1 = V1 k1 e , j1
V4 = V2 A2 = V2 k2 e j2
(4) The recommended balance procedure consists in iterating the
where following steps:

Ai = ki eji , i = 1, 2, (5) adjustment of the magnitude and the phase of the output
voltage of generator G2 until zero reading of detector D1
are gains of the followers. is achieved,

4
Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 025105 R Sedlacek and J Bohacek

Table 3. Uncertainty budget for the measurement of the value of 100 mH inductance standard.
Input quantities xi u(xi) ur(xi) ci ci u(xi) Contribution to Ur(Ls) (%)
7 7 1 8
n2 () 2 10 2 10 1 10 2 10 5.1 102
n1 () 2 107 2.36 107 3.15 106 6.29 1013 5.0 1011
R2s () 5.54 103 5.54 106 1 104 5.54 107 3.9 101
R3s () 5.54 102 5.54 106 1 105 5.54 107 3.9 101
R4P () 5.56 101 5.56 106 1.38 1011 7.69 1012 7.5 109
C4P (F) 3.96 1014 3.96 106 1 107 3.96 107 2 101
2 (s) 1.96 1011 1 101 8.47 101 1.66 109 3.5 104
3 (s) 1.62 109 1 101 8.47 101 1.37 107 2.4 10
RC4P () 3 106 1 102 1.82 1018 5.45 1012 3.8 109
CR4P (F) 4.78 1016 1 103 8.46 106 4.05 109 2.1 103
(rad s1) 1 103 1.59 107 3.98 1015 3.98 1018 2 1021

adjustment of the settings of the main bridge dividers ID1

and ID2 until detector D2 reads zero,
adjustment of the settings of auxiliary dividers ID3 and
ID4 until detectors D3 and D4 read zero.
After attaining a complete balance, the series equivalent
inductance and the resistance of the unknown inductor can
be calculated from
 
n1 n2
Lx = R2s R3s [(2 + 3 ) +
R4p RC4p
+ (1 2 2 3 )(n1 CR4p + n2 C4p )], (10)
 
n1 n2
Rx = R2s R3s [(1 2 3 )
2
+
R4p RC4p
2 (2 + 3 )(n1 CR4p + n2 C4p )] (11)

where R2s, R3s and 2, 3 are series equivalent resistances

and time constants of resistors R2, R3, respectively. R4p and
CR4p are the parallel equivalent resistance and capacitance of
resistor R4, RC4P and C4P are the parallel equivalent resistance
and capacitance of capacitor C4, n1 and n2 are the settings of
ID1 and ID2 and is the angular frequency of the bridge supply
voltages.
A GPIB interface is used to connect generators G1, G2
and the bridge detectors to a personal computer. Software for
controlling the generators has been developed and an auto-
balancing algorithm has been implemented for minimizing
the reading of detector D1 by automatically varying the output
voltage of G2. If a non-vanishing reading of the detector D1
remains due to insufficient amplitude resolution of G2, variable
components CA (10 nF) and RA (10 k) can be used to make
it null.
3.5. Measurement uncertainties
Evaluation of measurement uncertainties has been carried out
according to GUM [12] and, as an example, the uncertainty
budget for the measurement of the value of a 100 mH
inductance standard at 1 kHz is given in table 3. In this table,
u(xi) are standard uncertainties of input quantities appearing
in (10) and (11), ur(xi) are their relative standard uncertainties
and ci are sensitivity coefficients corresponding to quantities
Figure 7. Results of the measurement of the inductance of a
100 mH inductor by means of the MaxwellWien bridge (MW) and
the three-voltage method (3 V). The half-widths of uncertainty bars
are relative expanded uncertainties for k = 2.
xi. Using the law of propagation of uncertainty, the relative
expanded uncertainty of the value Ls has been found to be
Ur(Ls) = 13 H H1 for k = 2. As can be seen from table 3,
mainly uncertainties of R2s, R3s and C4p contribute to the value
of Ur(Ls), their respective contributions being approximately
39%, 39% and 20% of the total value. Contribution due to
temperature changes in course of the measurement is less than
2%. If the relative standard uncertainties of R2s, R3s and C4p
were reduced to 1 106, the corresponding value of Ur(Ls)
would be less than 4 H H1.
4. Conclusion
To achieve the highest possible accuracy, well-characterized
4TP inductors must be used as reference standards in
calibrations of inductance ranges of high-accuracy LCR
meters. If only 2T or 3T inductance standards are available
for this purpose, it is advisable to convert them to 4TP objects

5
Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (2009) 025105
by application of suitable 2T/4TP or 3T/4TP adapters [13].
However, 4TP inductances of the resulting objects differ from
known 2T or 3T inductances of original standards and the
subsequent determination of their differences is necessary.
Admittedly, 4TP inductance measurements require more
complex measurement setups than 2T or 3T measurements,
but, on the other hand, they ensure better definition of the
inductor to be measured and eliminate the effect of connecting
cables.
At present, the 4TP modification of the MaxwellWien
bridge rather than the 4TP double-balance bridge is used in
traceable inductance calibrations made at the CTU (after the
completion of No. 607 EUROMET comparison, the double-
balance bridge was dismantled and its modular units are
presently used in an RC bridge for linking resistance and
capacitance standards).
Whilst the double-balance bridge could be tested in the
framework of No. 607 EUROMET comparison (section 2), a
system based on the three-voltage method and described in
[7] was used in the verification of the MaxwellWien bridge.
When the inductance of a 100 mH standard was measured
by these two facilities at frequencies of 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 5
kHz and 10 kHz, the measurement results agreed within their
estimated uncertainties, as can be seen from the diagram in
figure 7.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth
and Sports of the Czech Republic in the framework of no
MSM6840770015 Programme. The authors are grateful to
B P Kibble for helpful comments on the manuscript of this
paper.
R Sedlacek and J Bohacek
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