Development of a NIST WR10 radiometer

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a waveguide radiometer to measure noise from millimeter wave electronic components from 75 GHz to 110 GHz. The radiometer will estimate the noise temperature of a device under test (DUT) based on comparison with room temperature and 77K noise standards. This is a standard physical approach in other NIST microwave radiometers. The radiometer is particularly amenable to performing noise temperature as well as noise parameter measurements for amplifier and transistor characterization. As wireless communications progresses towards millimeter wave systems, noise characterization of related components and subsystems becomes essential. We report our progress in radiometer design, construction and verification for millimeter wave noise metrology at NIST.