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Low-Power Testing of Losses in Millimeter-Wave Transmission Lines for High-Power Applications

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Abstract

We report the measurement of small losses in transmission line (TL) components intended for high-power millimeter-wave applications. Measurements were made using two different low-power techniques: a coherent technique using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and an incoherent technique using a radiometer. The measured loss in a 140 GHz 12.7 mm diameter TL system, consisting of 1.7 m of circular corrugated waveguide and three miter bends, is dominated by the miter bend loss. The measured loss was 0.3 ± 0.1 dB per miter bend using a VNA; and 0.22 ± 0.1 dB per miter bend using a radiometer. Good agreement between the two measurement techniques implies that both are useful for measuring small losses. To verify the methodology, the VNA technique was employed to measure the extremely small transmission loss in a 170 GHz ITER prototype TL system consisting of three lengths of 1 m, 63.5 mm diameter, circular corrugated waveguide and two miter bends. The measured loss of 0.05 ± 0.02 dB per miter bend may be compared with the theoretical loss of 0.027 dB per miter bend. These results suggest that low-power testing of TL losses, utilizing a small, simple TL system and a VNA, is a reliable method for evaluating performance of low-loss millimeter-wave TL components intended for use in high-power applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank J. Anderson of MIT Lincoln Lab, K. Sakamoto of JAEA, and T. Bigelow of Oak Ridge National Lab for very helpful discussions. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under contracts EB001965 and EB004866; and by the US ITER Project Office through UT-Battelle LLC subcontract 4000048870.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plasma Science and Fusion Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02139–4294, USA

    S. T. Han, E. N. Comfoltey, M. A. Shapiro, J. R. Sirigiri, D. S. Tax, R. J. Temkin & P. P. Woskov

  2. Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Changwon, Kyungnam, 641–120, Republic of Korea

    S. T. Han

  3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the ITER Project Office, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    D. A. Rasmussen

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  1. S. T. Han
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  2. E. N. Comfoltey
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  3. M. A. Shapiro
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  4. J. R. Sirigiri
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  8. D. A. Rasmussen
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Correspondence to M. A. Shapiro.

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Han, S.T., Comfoltey, E.N., Shapiro, M.A. et al. Low-Power Testing of Losses in Millimeter-Wave Transmission Lines for High-Power Applications. Int J Infrared Milli Waves 29, 1011–1018 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-008-9404-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-008-9404-3

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