An effective method of probe calibration in phase-resolved near-field scanning for EMI application

Near-field scanning can be used to determine the far-field emissions of electronic devices. In general, this requires phase-resolved electric and magnetic near-field data. To capture a broad frequency range relatively quickly, a multichannel oscilloscope can be used for data capture. The phase relationship of the fields between different space points and between the electric and the magnetic field needs to be known. Consequently, it is required to determine the complex-valued probe factor (PF) of the probe, cable, and amplifier chain. This paper presents a fast and efficient calibration method which uses the same setup and instruments during calibration and measurement, and it allows for easy and economical integration of the calibration hardware and software into the scanning system. Known fields are created by a microstrip trace driven with a comb generator. By referencing measured data to this known field, the PF is obtained over a broad frequency range by capturing one time-domain waveform.