Automated power sensor calibration using direct comparison technique from 100 MHz to 18 GHz at NPLI

摘要

Radio frequency (RF) power is one of the most important quantities in RF metrology. This paper summarizes the basic concepts of RF power standard, power sensor and the direct comparison technique used for power calibration. The automated calibration system has been developed using Agilent VEE Pro, coaxial thermistor mount as RF power reference standard, power sensor along with the power meter and GPIB cables. The system performs the calibration of power sensor against the reference standard coaxial thermistor mount in terms of calibration factor (CF) using the direct comparison technique. The software provides a graphical user interface that provides the fastest path of measurement and data acquisition. The automated power sensor calibration system has been successfully tested with the measurement uncertainty up to ±2.0% in the frequency range of 100 MHz to 18 GHz.