Field Transfer Probe Standards

Project Goals

Integrated resistively-tapered dipole

To provide transfer electromagnetic field probes with calibration traceable to NIST. These probes are used by various US industries including private test laboratories and by other governmental agencies. Due to the wide range of applications, probes with different sensitivities and frequency responses are required. Projections for future spectrum usage indicate that probes with millimeter-wave and terahertz responses need to be developed.

Background

Many U.S. industries, including the electronics, communications, law enforcement, aircraft, and automotive industries, require accurate quantitative knowledge of the intensity of electromagnetic fields in test chambers, on open area test sites (OATS), or produced by various high power sources. These fields may be generated as standards that are used to calibrate antennas and test hardware for susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, or generated by the electromagnetic emissions from various electronic devices. Although most present applications cover frequencies from about 1 MHz to 10 GHz, systems that operate up to nearly 100 GHz such as for automotive collision avoidance are being developed. Future applications with frequencies above 1 THz are envisioned

Tasks

Develop well-characterized field trasnfer probles for measuring standard electromagnetic fields