SPHERICAL NEAR-FIELD FACILITY FOR MICROWAVE COUPLING ASSESSMENTS IN THE 100 MHZ 6 GHZ FREQUENCY-RANGE

This paper describes a spherical near-field facility set up at the Cen tre d'Etudes de Gramat (CEG) to perform low-power microwave coupling a ssessments. Specifically, this facility has been designed to determine the coupling cross section of a complex object, However, it can also be used for the characterization of any radiating system in electromag netic compatibility (EMC) or high-power microwave (HPM) environments. The near-field approach is shown to be complementary and to offer incr eased flexibility when compared to other more conventional measurement techniques. More particularly, the use of a probe array in the upper part of the frequency band significantly speeds up the near-field meas urement process. Consequently, broadband and multiparameter acquisitio ns can be performed within acceptable duration. The examples given in this paper provide a broad illustration of the capabilities of near-fi eld techniques for EMC and HPM applications.