Microwave Engineering - Measurements

In t he field of Microwave engineering, t here occurs many applicat ions, as already st at ed in first
chapt er. Hence, while using different applicat ions, we oft en come across t he need of measuring
different values such as Power, At t enuat ion, Phase shift , VSWR, Impedance, et c. for t he effect ive
usage.

In t his chapt er, let us t ake a look at t he different measurement t echniques.

Measurement of Power
The Microwave Power measured is t he average power at any posit ion in waveguide. Power
measurement can be of t hree t ypes.

Measurement of Low power 0.01mW to10mW

Example − Bolomet ric t echnique
Measurement of Medium power 10mW to1W
Example − Calorimet er t echnique
Measurement of High power > 10W
Example − Calorimet er Wat t met er

Let us go t hrough t hem in det ail.

Measurement of Low Power

The measurement of Microwave power around 0.01mW t o 10mW, can be underst ood as t he
measurement of low power.

Bolometer is a device which is used for low Microwave power measurement s. The element used in
bolomet er could be of posit ive or negat ive t emperat ure coefficient . For example, a barrat er has a
posit ive t emperat ure coefficient whose resist ance increases wit h t he increase in t emperat ure.
Thermist or has negat ive t emperat ure coefficient whose resist ance decreases wit h t he increase in
t emperat ure.

Any of t hem can be used in t he bolomet er, but t he change in resist ance is proport ional t o Microwave
power applied for measurement . This bolomet er is used in a bridge of t he arms as one so t hat any
imbalance caused, affect s t he out put . A t ypical example of a bridge circuit using a bolomet er is as
shown in t he following figure.

The milliammet er here, gives t he value of t he current flowing. The bat t ery is variable, which is varied
t o obt ain balance, when an imbalance is caused by t he behavior of t he bolomet er. This adjust ment
which is made in DC bat t ery volt age is proport ional t o t he Microwave power. The power handling
capacit y of t his circuit is limit ed.

Measurement of Medium Power

The measurement of Microwave power around 10mW t o 1W, can be underst ood as t he
measurement of medium power.

A special load is employed, which usually maint ains a cert ain value of specific heat . The power t o be
measured, is applied at it s input which proport ionally changes t he out put t emperat ure of t he load
t hat it already maint ains. The difference in t emperat ure rise, specifies t he input Microwave power t o
t he load.

The bridge balance t echnique is used here t o get t he out put . The heat t ransfer met hod is used for
t he measurement of power, which is a Calorimet ric t echnique.

Measurement of High Power

The measurement of Microwave power around 10W t o 50KW, can be underst ood as t he
measurement of high power.

The High Microwave power is normally measured by Calorimet ric wat t met ers, which can be of dry
and flow t ype. The dry t ype is named so as it uses a coaxial cable which is filled wit h di-elect ric of
high hyst eresis loss, whereas t he flow t ype is named so as it uses wat er or oil or some liquid which is
a good absorber of microwaves.

The change in t emperat ure of t he liquid before and aft er ent ering t he load, is t aken for t he
calibrat ion of values. The limit at ions in t his met hod are like flow det erminat ion, calibrat ion and
t hermal inert ia, et c.

Measurement of Attenuation
In pract ice, Microwave component s and devices oft en provide some at t enuat ion. The amount of
at t enuat ion offered can be measured in t wo ways. They are − Power rat io met hod and RF
subst it ut ion met hod.

At t enuat ion is t he rat io of input power t o t he out put power and is normally expressed in decibels.

Pin
Attenuation in dBs = 10 log
Pout

Where Pin = Input power and Pout = Out put power

Power Ratio Method

In t his met hod, t he measurement of at t enuat ion t akes place in t wo st eps.

Step 1 − The input and out put power of t he whole Microwave bench is done wit hout t he
device whose at t enuat ion has t o be calculat ed.
Step 2 − The input and out put power of t he whole Microwave bench is done wit h t he device
whose at t enuat ion has t o be calculat ed.

The rat io of t hese powers when compared, gives t he value of at t enuat ion.

The following figures are t he t wo set ups which explain t his.

Drawback − The power and t he at t enuat ion measurement s may not be accurat e, when t he input
power is low and at t enuat ion of t he net work is large.

RF Substitution Method

In t his met hod, t he measurement of at t enuat ion t akes place in t hree st eps.

Step 1 − The out put power of t he whole Microwave bench is measured wit h t he net work
whose at t enuat ion has t o be calculat ed.

Step 2 − The out put power of t he whole Microwave bench is measured by replacing t he
net work wit h a precision calibrat ed at t enuat or.

Step 3 − Now, t his at t enuat or is adjust ed t o obt ain t he same power as measured wit h t he
net work.

The following figures are t he t wo set ups which explain t his.

The adjust ed value on t he at t enuat or gives t he at t enuat ion of t he net work direct ly. The drawback in
t he above met hod is avoided here and hence t his is a bet t er procedure t o measure t he at t enuat ion.

Measurement of Phase Shift

In pract ical working condit ions, t here might occur a phase change in t he signal from t he act ual signal.
To measure such phase shift , we use a comparison t echnique, by which we can calibrat e t he phase
shift .

The set up t o calculat e t he phase shift is shown in t he following figure.

Here, aft er t he microwave source generat es t he signal, it is passed t hrough an H-plane Tee junct ion
from which one port is connect ed t o t he net work whose phase shift is t o be measured and t he ot her
port is connect ed t o an adjust able precision phase shift er.

The demodulat ed out put is a 1 KHz sine wave, which is observed in t he CRO connect ed. This phase
shift er is adjust ed such t hat it s out put of 1 KHz sine wave also mat ches t he above. Aft er t he
mat ching is done by observing in t he dual mode CRO, t his precision phase shift er gives us t he reading
of phase shift . This is clearly underst ood by t he following figure.

This procedure is t he most ly used one in t he measurement of phase shift . Now, let us see how t o
calculat e t he VSWR.

Measurement of VSWR
In any Microwave pract ical applicat ions, any kind of impedance mismat ches lead t o t he format ion of
st anding waves. The st rengt h of t hese st anding waves is measured by Volt age St anding Wave Rat io
$V SW R$ . The rat io of maximum t o minimum volt age gives t he V SW R , which is denot ed by S .

Vmax 1 +ρ
S = =
Vmin 1 −ρ

Pref lected
Where, ρ = ref lection co − ef f icient =
Pincident

The measurement of V SW R can be done in t wo ways, Low V SW R and High V SW R

measurement s.

Measurement of Low VSWR S < 10

The measurement of low V SW R can be done by adjust ing t he at t enuat or t o get a reading on a DC
millivolt met er which is VSWR met er. The readings can be t aken by adjust ing t he slot t ed line and t he
at t enuat or in such a way t hat t he DC millivolt met er shows a full scale reading as well as a minimum
reading.

Now t hese t wo readings are calculat ed t o find out t he V SW R of t he net work.

Measurement of High VSWR S > 10

The measurement of high V SW R whose value is great er t han 10 can be measured by a met hod
called t he double minimum method. In t his met hod, t he reading at t he minimum value is t aken, and
t he readings at t he half point of minimum value in t he crest before and t he crest aft er are also
t aken. This can be underst ood by t he following figure.

Now, t he V SW R can be calculat ed by a relat ion, given as −

λg
V SW R =
π( d2 − d1 )

Where, λg is the guided wavelength

λ0
λg = where λ0 = c/f
−−−−−−−−
λ0
2
√1 − ( )
λc

As t he t wo minimum point s are being considered here, t his is called as double minimum met hod. Now,
let us learn about t he measurement of impedance.

Measurement of Impedance
Apart from Magic Tee, we have t wo different met hods, one is using t he slot t ed line and t he ot her is
using t he reflect omet er.
Impedance Using the Slotted Line

In t his met hod, impedance is measured using slot t ed line and load ZL and by using t his, Vmax and
Vmin can be det ermined. In t his met hod, t he measurement of impedance t akes place in t wo st eps.

Step 1 − Det ermining Vmin using load ZL .

Step 2 − Det ermining Vmin by short circuit ing t he load.

This is shown in t he following figures.

When we t ry t o obt ain t he values of Vmax and Vmin using a load, we get cert ain values. However, if
t he same is done by short circuit ing t he load, t he minimum get s shift ed, eit her t o t he right or t o t he
left . If t his shift is t o t he left , it means t hat t he load is induct ive and if it t he shift is t o t he right , it
means t hat t he load is capacit ive in nat ure. The following figure explains t his.
By recording t he dat a, an unknown impedance is calculat ed. The impedance and reflect ion
coefficient ρ can be obt ained in bot h magnit ude and phase.

Impedance Using the Reflectometer

Unlike slot t ed line, t he Reflect omet er helps t o find only t he magnit ude of impedance and not t he
phase angle. In t his met hod, t wo direct ional couplers which are ident ical but differs in direct ion are
t aken.

These t wo couplers are used in sampling t he incident power Pi and reflect ed power Pr from t he
load. The reflect omet er is connect ed as shown in t he following figure. It is used t o obt ain t he
magnit ude of reflect ion coefficient ρ , from which t he impedance can be obt ained.
From t he reflect omet er reading, we have
−−
−
Pr
ρ = √
Pi

From t he value of ρ , t he V SW R , i.e. S and t he impedance can be calculat ed by

1 +ρ z − zg
S = and = ρ
1 −ρ z + zg

Where, zg is known wave impedance and z is unknown impedance.

Though t he forward and reverse wave paramet ers are observed here, t here will be no int erference
due t o t he direct ional propert y of t he couplers. The at t enuat or helps in maint aining low input power.

Measurement of Q of Cavity Resonator

Though t here are t hree met hods such as Transmission met hod, Impedance met hod, and Transient
decay or Decrement met hod for measuring Q of a cavit y resonat or, t he easiest and most followed
met hod is t he Transmission Method. Hence, let us t ake a look at it s measurement set up.
In t his met hod, t he cavit y resonat or act s as t he device t hat t ransmit s. The out put signal is plot t ed
as a funct ion of frequency which result s in a resonant curve as shown in t he following figure.

From t he set up above, t he signal frequency of t he microwave source is varied, keeping t he signal
level const ant and t hen t he out put power is measured. The cavit y resonat or is t uned t o t his
frequency, and t he signal level and t he out put power is again not ed down t o not ice t he difference.

When t he out put is plot t ed, t he resonance curve is obt ained, from which we can not ice t he Half
Power Bandwidt h HP BW (2Δ) values.

1
2Δ = ±
QL

Where, QL is t he loaded value

1 w
or QL = ± = ±
2Δ 2(w − w0 )
If t he coupling bet ween t he microwave source and t he cavit y, as well t he coupling bet ween t he
det ect or and t he cavit y are neglect ed, t hen

QL = Q0 (unloaded Q)

Drawback

The main drawback of t his syst em is t hat , t he accuracy is a bit poor in very high Q syst ems due t o
narrow band of operat ion.

We have covered many t ypes of measurement t echniques of different paramet ers. Now, let us t ry
t o solve a few example problems on t hese.