A study on the calibration of an HPM meter based on a D-dot sensor and logarithmic RF power detector

Abstract

HPM meters are required for the assessment of fields generated by sources of high-power microwaves. Finding the inverse calibration curves for such instruments is important for ensuring accuracy. The procedure is relatively simple for meters consisting of linear devices but there can also be hardware solutions implementing nonlinear ones. The objective of the present work was to develop a convenient procedure to allow finding such a curve when the meter uses a D-dot probe and a power detector. For that purpose, the results of low voltage measurements describing the properties of the detector were first analysed. Then a software code was developed to estimate the RMS value of an incident field based on measured output and frequency response. The response was estimated with very low electric field. And finally, the performance of the proposed procedure was verified by tests conducted with high electric field in a TEM cell. High conformity of the output of the meter with fields of known values was demonstrated. The maximum error related to the meter range did not exceed 4%.