110 GHz Power

• Forschungsstelle: METAS
• Projektnummer: F-5217.30034
• Projekttitel Englisch: 110 GHz Power

Schlüsselwörter (Englisch)

Radio frequency, microwave, power sensor, network analyser, coaxial connector, waveguide

Kurzbeschreibung (Englisch)

Reliable radio frequency and microwave measurements up to 110 GHz are becoming more and more import. They are used in the field of communication technology, electronics and computer industries, safety engineering, process control and non-destructive testing, medical technology and pharmaceuticals. Services at metrology institutes for RF power measurements above 67 GHz are currently limited to power sensors with waveguide interface. Traceable power measurements of high accuracy and reliability for coaxial power sensors above 67 GHz are not guaranteed today.
With this project the RF & Microwave laboratory at METAS extends its measurement capabilities and services in the field of coaxial power sensors to 110 GHz. The project is supported by an industry partner.
In the field of vector network analysis the extension to 110 GHz is currently done in the project ONE-mm (F5217.30015). The measuring system for the ONE-mm project is also used in this project. Thus a lot of existing infrastructure can be used and expensive purchases are not necessary. The use of vector network analyzers for the calibration of RF power sensors is a new technology, which is very promising.

Projektziele (Englisch)

The project objectives are:

• Build up a traceable measuring system for the calibration of coaxial power sensors with a 1 mm interface up to 110 GHz
• Perform a measurement comparison with the industrial partner
• Calibration services for coaxial power sensors up to 110 GHz

Positive side effects are:

• Traceable measurement system for s-parameter measurements for the waveguide band WR10 (67 to 110 GHz)
• Calibration services for s-parameters for WR10 waveguide components

Abstract (Englisch)

The project goals were reached. The major results are:

• A measuring station for the traceable calibration of coaxial power sensors with a 1-mm interface up to 110 GHz
• A measuring comparison with the industrial partner with an excellent agreement of the results
• Calibration services for coaxial power sensors with a 1-mm interface up to 110 GHz
• A software called "METAS RF and Microwave Power Calibration", which enables power sensor calibration using a VNA including uncertainty calculation. Furthermore, the software contains a measurement journal and supports the transfer of the calibration factor using adapters, which are characterized within the measurement process.

  Positive side effects are:

• A measuring station for traceable s-parameter measurements of waveguide components with a WR10 interface from 67 to 116.5 GHz
• Calibration services for s-parameters of waveguide components with a WR10 interface
• A measuring station for the traceable calibration of waveguide power sensors with a WR10 interface from 75 to 110 GHz
• Calibration services for waveguide power sensors with a WR10 interface from 75 to 110 GHz.

Umsetzung und Anwendungen (Englisch)

METAS is the first NMI, which provides calibration services for coaxial 1 mm power sensors. The Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMC) have been submitted to the BIPM KCDB.

The CMC entries for power measurements for the waveguide band WR10 (75 to 110 GHz) have been submitted. The CMC entries for s-parameter measurements for the waveguide band WR10 (67 to 116.5 GHz) are already published.

Publikationen / Ergebnisse (Englisch)

D. Stalder, "Power Sensor Calibration Using a VNA", Keysight European Metrology
Workshop 2017, Prague