The von Klitzing constant R K has been previously determined at the Bureau National de Métrologie (BNM) in 1986 and 1993. Considering the recommendation of the Comité Consultatif d'Electricité working group on the quantum Hall effect in 1988, as well as the differences between the values of the fine structure constant obtained from different methods, it appears to be particularly important that we continue to develop and improve the direct determinations of R K .

The advent of the fundamental constants R K (the von Klitzing constant) and K J (the Josephson constant) in electrical metrology and the growing development of nanotechnologies have totally changed the vision and the practice of the National Metrology Institutes (NMIs), opening a modern era of metrology and arousing a growing interest in a possible re-definition of the international system of units (SI). The Josephson effect (JE) and the Quantum Hall effect (QHE), at the origin of these fundamental constants, constitute the keystone of a new approach to electrical units, when one considers the very high level of reproducibility of these units, never seen before. On the other hand, the Watt balance experiment in which these constants play a part could be the origin of a new SI definition, replacing the mass unit 'the kilogram' as a fundamental unit by the Planck constant h. It thus seems that the implementation of experiments aimed at demonstrating the coherency between the theoretical and phenomenological values of these constants is a major objective. In this framework the metrological triangle experiment associating QHE, JE and single electron tunnelling effect would play a major role in checking the consistency of these fundamental constants in terms of the Planck and electron charge constants. This article gives briefly an outline of these quantum phenomena and their metrological applications in NMIs for the realisation of electrical units and the determination of the fundamental constants. To cite this article: F.

By fixing two fundamental constants from quantum mechanics, the Planck constant h and the elementary charge e, the revised Système International (SI) of units endorses explicitly quantum mechanics. This evolution also highlights the importance of this theory which underpins the most accurate realization of the units. From 20 May 2019, the new definitions of the kilogram and of the ampere, based on fixed values of h and e respectively, will particularly impact the electrical metrology. The Josephson effect (JE) and the quantum Hall effect (QHE), used to maintain voltage and resistance standards with unprecedented reproducibility since 1990, will henceforth provide realizations of the volt and the ohm without the uncertainties inherited from the older electromechanical definitions. More broadly, the revised SI will sustain the exploitation of quantum effects to realize electrical units, to the benefit of end-users. Here, we review the state-of-the-art of these standards and discuss further applications and perspectives.

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