RF and Microwave Measurements

open1noBasic theory and techniques are concentrated mostly in the first four chapters, where definitions, formulas and references are collected aiming at giving a thorough overview of the most relevant topics: circuit theory, material properties, transmission lines, signal analysis and spectral analysis, including random processes, probability and statistics. The central chapters 5, 6 and 7 deals with three important elements of setups and experiments: cables, printed circuit boards and connectors. The influence on the overall measurement, their modeling and characterization are discussed, keeping an eye on applicable standards. The last four chapters cover advanced aspects of scattering parameters, differential lines and mixed modes, and the use and performance of spectrum analyzer and vector network analyzer.openA. MariscottiMariscotti, A

Automation of Advanced Scanners for RF Metrology

The characterization of the constitutive properties of materials is an important step in the development of modern RF devices, especially at mm-wave frequencies or in systems that incorporate materials whose performance varies with frequency or the angle of the impinging electrical eld. This thesis discusses the implementation of three material characterization systems designed by the Phased Array Antenna Research and Development (PAARD) group at the Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) for taking material measurements under di erent test con gurations. For each system, the majority of the work done was in creating a graphic user interface (GUI) in Labview that would facilitate rapid measurements by providing an intuitive control software for the user. The three systems work for a variety of di erent applications: an S-band waveguide setup for measuring isotropic materials, a C-band three-probe free-space system for measuring anisotropic materials, and a W-band free-space system. All three systems utilize the Nicolson-Ross-Weir (NRW) or Smith algorithm for material parameter extraction. Various other methods exist for material characterization but the NRW method provides relatively precise measurements over a broad band with minimal computational requirements. The importance of material parameters and the de nitions of isotropy/anisotropy will be discussed rst, followed by the method through which the material parameters are calculated. After this the speci cations for each system that was developed are discussed including the physical test setup, the algorithm(s) that are used, the formation of the control software, the calibration techniques used, and the results of material tests

Microwave Dielectrometry Adapted to Environments

Tesis por compendio[ES] La permitividad es una propiedad física de los materiales que describe su comportamiento en presencia de un campo electromagnético. Los sensores de microondas pueden desempeñar un papel esencial en las tareas de detección, supervisión o control de procesos, ya que algunos parámetros fisicoquímicos de los materiales producen cambios medibles en las propiedades dieléctricas. Además, la tecnología de calentamiento por microondas está adquiriendo una relevancia creciente para la transición ecológica y la descarbonización de los procesos industriales, y la permitividad es el parámetro esencial para el desarrollo exitoso de estos nuevos procesos. La permitividad depende de muchos factores, por lo que los métodos de medición de la permitividad deben adaptarse a las necesidades del material y del entorno de medición. El número de aplicaciones que requieren la monitorización o medida de las propiedades dieléctricas, las altas dependencias de esta magnitud bajo diferentes condiciones, y la necesidad de poner esta tecnología al alcance de un usuario más amplio y menos especializado, justifican el desarrollo de este trabajo. Esta tesis pretende desarrollar nuevos dispositivos para la monitorización y caracterización de dieléctricos adaptados a diferentes entornos, cubriendo un amplio rango de formatos, formas y propiedades de los materiales. Las dos primeras publicaciones incluidas en la tesis describen dos enfoques diferentes para abordar las mediciones de permitividad. El primer artículo describe un instrumento versátil, autónomo y fácil de usar para medir la permitividad de materiales dentro de tubos. El diseño de la cavidad logró una excelente sensibilidad, y el estudio de la red de acoplamiento permitió la caracterización de materiales de pérdidas bajas, moderadas y altas con una misma configuración. Este dispositivo incluye un reflectómetro vectorial portátil propio, lo que lo hace portátil y asequible. Las características del instrumento desarrollado permiten un uso sencillo por parte de personal no especializado y proporcionan versatilidad en muchas situaciones. La segunda publicación presenta el diseño específico de una sonda coaxial de extremo abierto con una mayor sensibilidad para determinar la permitividad de productos alimenticios de altas pérdidas en función de la temperatura a frecuencias de RF. Este artículo destaca la importancia de seleccionar la técnica de medición más adecuada, adaptada al entorno y a las particularidades del material, para la determinación apropiada de la permitividad. Los dos artículos siguientes describen el desarrollo y la utilización de un microscopio de microondas de campo cercano con resolución micrométrica para determinar mapas de permitividad de materiales planos heterogéneos a frecuencias de microondas. En ambos trabajos se describen los diferentes elementos que componen el instrumento del microscopio y las técnicas de análisis para determinar los valores de permitividad a partir de las medidas de los parámetros de la resonancia. En el primer trabajo se empleó por primera vez la tecnología de microondas en aplicaciones contra la falsificación, obteniendo la marca dieléctrica de la marca de agua de un billete. Además, este estudio demostró la capacidad de la energía de microondas para detectar marcas ocultas detrás de capas dieléctricas o metálicas, lo que abre nuevas posibilidades para el desarrollo de elementos de seguridad ópticamente opacos e imposibles de rastrear por medios ópticos. El segundo estudio demuestra la versatilidad de este sistema para determinar las propiedades dieléctricas de materiales planos heterogéneos midiendo la respuesta dieléctrica de especímenes de roca. Los métodos desarrollados en esta tesis aumentan la cartera de sistemas de caracterización dieléctrica y pueden ayudar a una amplia gama de sectores científicos e industriales en las tareas de monitorización y caracterización dieléctrica, haciendo estos trabajos más cómodos y accesibles.[CA] La permitivitat és una propietat física dels materials que descriu el seu comportament en presència d'un camp electromagnètic. Els sensors de microones poden exercir un paper essencial en les tasques de detecció, supervisió o control de processos, ja que alguns paràmetres fisicoquímics dels materials produeixen canvis mesurables en les propietats dielèctriques. A més, la tecnologia de calfament per microones està adquirint una rellevància creixent per a la transició ecològica i la descarbonització dels processos industrials, i la permitivitat és el paràmetre essencial per al desenvolupament reeixit d'aquests nous processos. La permitivitat depén de molts factors i, per tant, els mètodes de mesurament de la permitivitat han d'adaptar-se a les necessitats del material i de l'entorn de mesurament. El nombre d'aplicacions que requereixen el monitoratge o mesura de les propietats dielèctriques, les altes dependències d'aquesta magnitud sota diferents condicions, i la necessitat de posar aquesta tecnologia a l'abast d'un usuari més ampli i menys especialitzat, justifiquen el desenvolupament d'aquest treball. Aquesta tesi pretén desenvolupar nous dispositius per al monitoratge i caracterització de dielèctrics adaptats a diferents entorns, cobrint un ampli rang de formats, formes i propietats dels materials. Les dues primeres publicacions incloses en la tesi descriuen dos enfocaments diferents per a abordar els mesuraments de permitivitat. El primer article descriu un instrument versàtil, autònom i fàcil d'usar per a mesurar la permitivitat de materials dins de tubs. El disseny de la cavitat va aconseguir una excel·lent sensibilitat, i l'estudi de la xarxa d'acoblament va permetre la caracterització de materials de pèrdues baixes, moderades i altes amb una mateixa configuració. Aquest dispositiu inclou un reflectòmetre vectorial portàtil propi, la qual cosa el fa portàtil i assequible. Les característiques de l'instrument desenvolupat permeten un ús senzill per part de personal no especialitzat i proporcionen versatilitat en moltes situacions. La segona publicació presenta el disseny específic de una sonda coaxial d'extrem obert amb una major sensibilitat per a determinar la permitivitat de productes alimentaris d'altes pèrdues en funció de la temperatura a freqüències de RF. Aquest article destaca la importància de seleccionar la tècnica de mesurament més adequat, adaptada a l'entorn i a les particularitats del material, per a la determinació apropiada de la permitivitat. Els dos articles següents descriuen el desenvolupament i la utilització d'un microscopi de microones de camp pròxim amb resolució micromètrica per a determinar mapes de permitivitat de materials plans heterogenis a freqüències de microones. En tots dos treballs es descriuen els diferents elements que componen l'instrument del microscopi i les tècniques d'anàlisis per a determinar els valors de permitivitat a partir de les mesures dels paràmetres de la ressonància. En el primer treball es va emprar per primera vegada la tecnologia de microones en aplicacions contra la falsificació, obtenint la marca dielèctrica de la marca d'aigua d'un bitllet. A més, aquest estudi va demostrar la capacitat de l'energia de microones per a detectar marques ocultes darrere de capes dielèctriques o metàl·liques, la qual cosa obri noves possibilitats per al desenvolupament d'elements de seguretat òpticament opacs i impossibles de rastrejar per mitjans òptics. El segon estudi demostra la versatilitat d'aquest sistema per a determinar les propietats dielèctriques de materials plans heterogenis mesurant la resposta dielèctrica d'espècimens de roca. Els mètodes desenvolupats en aquesta tesi augmenten la cartera de sistemes de caracterització dielèctrica i poden ajudar a una àmplia gamma de sectors científics i industrials en les tasques de monitoratge i caracterització dielèctrica, fent aquests treballs més còmodes i accessibles.[EN] Permittivity is a physical property of materials describing their behavior in the presence of an electromagnetic field. Microwave sensors can play an essential role in detecting, monitoring, or process control tasks as some physicochemical parameters of materials produce measurable changes in dielectric properties. Besides, microwave heating technology is gaining increasing relevance for the ecological transition and decarbonization of industrial processes, and permittivity is the essential parameter for the successful development of these new processes. Permittivity depends on many factors and thus, permittivity measurement methods must be adapted to the needs of the material and the measurement environment. The number of applications that require the monitoring or measurement of dielectric properties, the high dependencies of this magnitude under different conditions, and the need to make this technology available to a broader and less specialized user justify the development of this work. This thesis aims to develop new devices for the monitoring and characterization of dielectrics adapted to different environments, covering a wide range of materials' formats, shapes, and properties. The first two publications included in the thesis describe two different approaches to address permittivity measurements. The first paper describes a versatile, stand-alone, and easy-to-use instrument for measuring the permittivity materials inside tubes. The design of the cavity achieved an excellent sensitivity, and the study of the coupling network allowed the characterization of low, moderate, and high-loss materials with the same setup. This device included an in-house portable vector reflectometer, making it portable and cost-affordable. The features of the developed instrument allow straightforward use by non-specialized personnel and provide versatility in many situations. The second publication presents a specific open-ended coaxial design with increased sensitivity to determine the permittivity of lossy food products as a function of temperature at RF frequencies. This paper highlight the relevance of selecting the most suitable measurement technique, adapted to the environment and particularities of the material, for the appropriate determination of permittivity. The following two papers describe the development and use of a near-field scanning microwave microscope with micrometric resolution to determine permittivity maps of heterogeneous planar materials at microwave frequencies. The different elements comprising the microscope instrument and the analysis techniques to determine permittivity values from the resonance measurements were described throughout both works. In the first paper, microwave technology was employed for the first time in anti-counterfeiting applications by obtaining the dielectric mark of a banknote watermark. Besides, this study showed the ability of microwave energy to detect hidden marks behind dielectric or metallic layers, opening new possibilities for developing optically opaque security features untraceable by optical means. The second study demonstrates the versatility of this system in determining the dielectric properties of heterogeneous planar materials by measuring the dielectric response of rock specimens. The methods developed in this thesis dissertation increase the portfolio of dielectric characterization systems and can help a wide range of scientific and industrial sectors in dielectric monitoring and characterization tasks, making these works more convenient and accessible.Financial support through the grant reference BES-2016-077296 of the call Convocatoria de las ayudas para contratos predoctorales para la formación de doctores de 2016 by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and by European Social Funds (ESF) of European Union is also gratefully acknowledgedGutiérrez Cano, JD. (2022). Microwave Dielectrometry Adapted to Environments [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/186351TESISCompendi

Self-calibration technique for characterization of integrated THz waveguides

Emerging high-frequency accelerator technology in the terahertz regime is promising for the development of compact high-brightness accelerators and high resolution-power beam diagnostics. One resounding challenge when scaling to higher frequencies and to smaller structures is the proportional scaling of tolerances which can hinder the overall performance of the structure. Consequently, characterizing these structures is essential for nominal operation. Here, we present a novel and simple self-calibration technique to characterize the dispersion relation of integrated hollow THz-waveguides. The developed model is verified in simulation by extracting dispersion characteristics of a standard waveguide a priori known by theory. The extracted phase velocity does not deviate from the true value by more than $9 \times 10^{-5} ~\%$. In experiments the method demonstrates its ability to measure dispersion characteristics of non-standard waveguides embedded with their couplers with an accuracy below $\approx 0.5~\%$ and precision of $\approx 0.05~\%$. Equipped with dielectric lining the metallic waveguides act as slow wave structures, and the dispersion curves are compared without and with dielectric. A phase synchronous mode, suitable for transverse deflection, is found at $275~\text{GHz}$.Comment: to be submitted to $\textit{Physical Review Accelerators and Beams}

Radio-Frequency Sensors for High Performance Liquid Chromatography Applications

As a fast-developing analytical technique for separation, purification, identification and quantification of components in a mixture, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been widely used in various fields including biology, food, environment, pharmacy and so on. As a critical part in the HPLC system, the detector with the feature of high sensitivity, universal detection and gradient-elution compatibility is highly desired. In this dissertation, two types of radio-frequency (RF) sensors for HPLC gradient applications are presented: a tunable interferometer (TIM) and a modified square ring loaded resonator (SRLR). For the TIM-based sensor, the sensitivity is evaluated by measuring a few common chemicals in DI water at multiple frequencies from 0.98 GHz to 7.09 GHz. Less than 84 ppm limit of detection (LOD) is demonstrated. An algorithm is provided and used to obtain sample dielectric permittivity at each frequency point. When connected to a commercial HPLC system and injected with a 10 μL aliquot of 10000 ppm caffeine DI-water solution, the sensor yields a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to 10 under isocratic and gradient elution operations. Furthermore, the sensor demonstrates a capability to quantify co-eluted vitamin E succinate (VES) and vitamin D3 (VD3). For the SRLR-based sensor, where a transmission line and a ring are electrically shorted with a center gap, the detection linearity is characterized by measuring water-caffeine samples from 0.77 ppm to 1000 ppm when connected to the HPLC system. A 0.231 ppm limit of detection (LOD) is achieved, revealing a comparable sensitivity with commercial ultraviolet (UV) detectors. The compatibility of the proposed sensor to gradient elution is also demonstrated. Besides, this work presents a method for the measurement of liquid permittivity without using liquid reference materials or calibration standards. The method uses a single transmission line and a single microfluidic channel which intercepts the line twice. As a result, two transmission line segments are formed with channel sections to measure liquid samples. By choosing a 2:1 ratio for the two line segment lengths, closed-form formulas are provided to calculate line propagation constants directly from measured S-parameters. Then, sample permittivity values are obtained. A coplanar waveguide is built and tested with de-ionized water, methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol from 0.1 GHz to 9 GHz. The obtained performance agrees with simulation results. The obtained sample permittivity values agree with commonly accepted values. Radiofrequency (RF) non-thermal (NT) bio-effects have been a subject of debate and attracted significant interests due to the potential health risks or beneficial applications. A miniature transverse electro-magnetic (TEM) device is designed for broadband investigation of RF NT effects on Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth, a common yeast species. The frequency-dependent yeast permittivity, obtained by measuring the difference between the medium and yeast in the medium, was used to select the applied RF frequencies, i.e., 1.0 MHz, 3.162 MHz, 10 MHz and 905 MHz. The results showed that the RF field at 3.162 MHz reduced yeast growth rates by 11.7%; however, the RF fields at 1.0 MHz and 10 MHz enhanced cell growth rates by 16.2% and 4.3%, respectively. In contrast, the RF field at 905 MHz had no effect on the growth rates

The QUIET Instrument

The Q/U Imaging ExperimenT (QUIET) is designed to measure polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background, targeting the imprint of inflationary gravitational waves at large angular scales (~ 1 degree). Between 2008 October and 2010 December, two independent receiver arrays were deployed sequentially on a 1.4 m side-fed Dragonian telescope. The polarimeters which form the focal planes use a highly compact design based on High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) that provides simultaneous measurements of the Stokes parameters Q, U, and I in a single module. The 17-element Q-band polarimeter array, with a central frequency of 43.1 GHz, has the best sensitivity (69 uK sqrt(s)) and the lowest instrumental systematic errors ever achieved in this band, contributing to the tensor-to-scalar ratio at r < 0.1. The 84-element W-band polarimeter array has a sensitivity of 87 uK sqrt(s) at a central frequency of 94.5 GHz. It has the lowest systematic errors to date, contributing at r < 0.01. The two arrays together cover multipoles in the range l= 25-975. These are the largest HEMT-based arrays deployed to date. This article describes the design, calibration, performance of, and sources of systematic error for the instrument

Time-domain thru-reflect-line (TRL) calibration error assessment and its mitigation and modeling of multilayer printed circuit boards (PCB) with complex area fills

Part 1 for this thesis is on the error assessment of a time-domain (t-TRL) calibration technique. Application of the Thru-Reflect-Line (TRL) calibration to time-domain measurements of S-parameters (t-TRL) can be used for the characterization of the printed circuit boards (PCBs). However, t-TRL calibrated results still have deviations from the reference frequency-domain vector network analyzer (VNA) calibrated results. There are two main sources of errors in the t-TRL calibration. They are random errors, such as an additive noise and jitter, and systematic errors associated with cables, connectors, and port mismatches. This work addresses these two types of errors by proper selection of the number of sampling points, waveform averages, and time record. Methods tried out to eliminate or reduce these errors are detailed in this work. Measurements and simulations were performed for implementing these methods, and the results are explained. A t-TRL calibration automation tool based on TDR/TDT measurements has been developed. Part 2 of this thesis is on the modeling of multilayer PCBs with complex area fills and floating planes. Noise on the power distribution network (PDN) and between the power area fills in multilayer PCBs with complex geometries is a significant concern. Modeling of such PCBs can be done with a cavity model approach. Correlation of a 3D EM solver results with the Multilayer Via Transition Tool (MVTT) results based on cavity model is explained here. Additional modeling and validation was done using the equivalent inductance method --Abstract, page iii

Evaluation of the surface impedance of ReBCO coated conductors and requirements for their use as beam screen materials for the FCC-hh

A la portada: logo Alba synchroton(English) The Future Circular Hadron Collider (FCC-hh) is a proposal for a 100-kilometre-long particle accelerator with collision energy substantially higher than previous colliders to expand the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) research. The selection of a low surface impedance beam screen coating material for such a high-energy collider has become of fundamental importance to ensure sufficiently low beam impedance and guarantee stable accelerator operation at high beam currents. Currently, copper is the baseline coating material. In comparison to it, only high-temperature superconductors (HTSs) in the form of ReBCO coated conductors (ReBCO-CCs) have a lower surface impedance and would provide for higher margins of beam stability at the expected operating temperature (40 - 60 K). Whilst theoretical studies of HTSs under FCC-hh conditions have proved encouraging, no experimental data of ReBCO-CCs subject to FCC-hh conditions exists to confirm these predictions. This thesis provides two main contributions: First, it presents the experimental set-ups designed and constructed to measure the surface impedance of ReBCO-CCs, on the basis of dielectric resonator structures of Hakki-Coleman and parallel plate type under AC and DC magnetic fields, photon irradiation, all at cryogenic temperatures, to mimic the environment of the beam screen in the FCC-hh. We also developed DROMS, an automated data acquisition software, and ARPE, a post-processing algorithm to accurately extract the parameters of the dielectric resonators -resonance frequency and quality factor- from the S-parameters of the vector network analyser. The second contribution consists in the results from experimentally-measured surface impedance of ReBCO-CCs from six different manufacturers. We present surface impedance as a function of temperature and under strong magnetic fields in the gigahertz range. Complementary to this, we analysed the non-linear behaviour of ReBCO-CCs in the presence of a magnetic field superimposed on radio-frequency electromagnetic fields with amplitudes comparable to the ones generated by proton bunches in the FCC-hh. Finally, we studied the effect of photon irradiation on the surface resistance in-situ and ex-situ, at the ALBA Synchrotron Light Source. Extrapolating from our data to 16 T and 1 GHz demonstrates the possibility of lowering the surface resistance of the beam screen by up to two orders of magnitude by using ReBCO-CCs instead of copper while the surface reactance is at the same order of magnitude. We conclude that ReBCO-CCs are suitable candidates to significantly reduce the resistive wall impedance in the FCC-hh.(Español) El Future Circular Hadron Collider (FCC-hh) es una propuesta para un acelerador de partículas de 100 kilómetros de longitud con energías de colisión significativamente superiores a los colisionadores anteriores para expandir la investigación del Large Hadron Collider (LHC). La elección de un material de revestimiento de baja impedancia superficial para el interior del tubo de vacio se ha vuelto de fundamental importancia para garantizar una impedancia de haz suficiente baja. Esto permite un funcionamiento estable del acelerador con corrientes de haz altas. Actualmente el cobre es el material de revestimiento de referencia. En comparación con eso, solo los superconductores de alta temperature en forma de conductores recubiertos con ReBCO (ReBCO-CCs) tienen una menor impedancia superficial. De esta manera, prometen mayores márgenes de estabilidad del haz a la temperatura esperada de funcionamiento (40 - 60 K). Mientras los estudios teóricos de superconductores de alta temperatura en condiciones FCC-hh han sido prometedores, no existen datos experimentales de conductores recubiertos con ReBCO sujetos a condiciones FCC-hh para confirmar estas predicciones. Esta tesis aporta dos contribuciones principales. Primero, presenta las condiciones experimentales diseñadas y construidas para medir la impedancia superficial de ReBCO-CCs en base a estructuras de resonadores dieléctricos de tipo Hakki-Coleman y placa paralela bajo campos magnéticos AC y DC, irradiación de fotones, todo ello a condiciones criogénicas temperaturas, para imitar el entorno del tubo de vacio en el FCC-hh. También desarrollamos DRΩMS, un software de adquisición de datos automatizado, y ARPE, un algoritmo de posprocesamiento para extraer con precisión los parámetros del resonador dieléctrico -frecuencia de resonancia y factor de calidadde los parámetros S del analizador de redes vectoriales. La segunda contribución consiste en los resultados de las mediciones experimentales de impedancia de superficie de ReBCO-CC de seis fabricantes distintos. Presentamos la impedancia superficial en función de la temperatura bajo fuertes campos magnéticos en el rango de los gigahercios. Complementariamente, analizamos el comportamiento no lineal de ReBCO-CCs en presencia de un campo magnético superpuesto a campos electromagnéticos de radiofrecuencia con amplitudes comparables a las generadas por haces de protones en el FCC-hh. Finalmente, estudiamos el efecto de la irradiación de fotones sobre la resistencia de la superficie in-situ y ex-situ, en la fuente del luz del sincrotrón ALBA. La extrapolación de nuestros datos a 16 T y 1 GHz demuestra la posibilidad de reducir la resistencia superficial del tubo de vacio de hasta dos órdenes de magnitud mediante el uso de ReBCO-CC en lugar de cobre, mientras que la reactancia superficial está en el mismo orden de magnitud. Concluimos que los ReBCO-CCs son canditatos adecuados para reducir significativamente la impedancia de la pared resistiva en el FCC-hh.Teoria del senyal i comunicacion

Material Parameter Extraction from Reflection Measurements

Nucleo do trabalho finalizado. Resta Medições de validaçao e escrita do documento final