In this article, we present a comprehensive analysis of the hardware and software solutions required to enable frequency scalable load-pull test benches operating in the (sub)mm-wave frequency bands. First, the constraints arising from the harmonic (nonlinear) operation of mm-wave extender modules are discussed and analyzed. Then, different hardware solutions for signal generation and control, together with the specific software algorithms required to realize a frequency scalable load-pull test bench, are presented. The measurement setup key performances are analyzed in different frequency bands up to 500 GHz, i.e., waveguide bands from WR10 up to WR2.2. Finally, the load-pull measurements on an HBT device at 75 GHz and a two-stage differential PA at 135 GHz are presented to show the capability of the proposed test bench to characterize and optimize mm-wave nonlinear components.

In this contribution, we present the performances of an IQ mixer-based RF-interferometer module, called the HΓ-VNA, designed to be used as an add-on to VNAs to improve the measurement sensitivity and accuracy of DUTs presenting extreme impedances (|Γ|>0.8). The calibration procedure used to obtain accuracy improvement is presented, and allows to set both reference and system impedance to any selected one. The procedure is benchmarked by comparing it to a conventional 50 Ω short-open-load calibration performed on a 50-Ohm VNA. For this purpose, a custom on-wafer calibration kit has been realized, using a fused silica substrate, featuring calibration loads with very high impedances (between 3.5 kΩ and 7 kΩ). Experimental results show accuracy improvements when applying the proposed calibration technique to the measurement of high impedance resistors, for frequencies below 4 GHz.

This paper analyzes and accurately models the complex noise behavior of vector network analyzers (VNAs) when measuring large-mismatch devices and subsequently shows how the VNA measurement noise performance is enhanced through implementation of a high-speed, broadband, active RF interferometer module. The presented VNA noise model provides a solid framework, benchmarked by measurement data, to analyze existing RF interferometer approaches. The performance improvement of the proposed interferometer implementation is then benchmarked in terms of magnitude and phase stability of the renormalized impedance level. A test bench employing the novel add-on RF interferometer module is presented and demonstrated to achieve high-speed cancellation of the scattered wave over a broad frequency band. The first experiment shows ultralow noise in a 1-18 GHz broadband measurement of co-planar waveguide 0.5-Ω and 5-k Ω impedance standards. Employing the proposed hardware setup improves the noise uncertainty for the 5-k Ω impedance standard by a factor of 8 and 20 at 1 and 18 GHz, respectively. In the second experiment, a factor of 2 height-resolution enhancement is achieved in a scanning microwave microscope when the RF interferometer module is added to the instrument.

In this paper, we present a technique to extract the complex permittivity of the different layers (i.e., pulp and skin) of a biological sample (i.e., mangoes) in broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements. The proposed approach is based on a newly developed accurate and rapid electromagnetic lumped capacitance equivalent network model for the open-ended coaxial cable, capable of accounting for stratified layered media. Combining broadband dielectric measurement with the model predictions allows to derive the permittivity of the internal layers of the biological sample. The proposed approach is applied to evaluate fruit quality, i.e., staging of the effective fruit ripening and identification of internal fruit defects (not visible externally). Broadband permittivity measurements (0.5GHz to 5GHz) are presented and combined with the EM model to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique for evaluation of the internal (i.e., pulp) staging and structure disorders in Mangoes.