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The Impact of a Taper Impedance Transformation on the TRL De-Embedding Error

Mendes, J. ; Nunes, L. C. ; Barradas, F. M. B. ; Cabral, P. M. ; Pedro, J. C.

IEEE Journal of Microwaves Vol. 4, Nº 3, pp. 389 - 403, July, 2024.

ISSN (print):
ISSN (online): 2692-8388

Scimago Journal Ranking: (in )

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/JMW.2024.3405018

Abstract
This work originates from the realization that, in a transformed impedance thru-reflect-line (TRL) calibration, the sensitivity to random measurement errors is affected by impedance discrepancies between the impedance transformer and the device-under-test (DUT). Through a thorough exploration that includes theoretical analysis, simulations and TRL measurements, this study establishes that the accuracy of de-embedding operations on a transformed impedance medium is intricately tied to the difference between the Thevenin impedance seen from the DUT-side of the launcher and the DUT impedance. A noteworthy finding is that minimizing this difference enhances the resilience of the de-embedding process against random measurement errors, being advantageous for precision modeling techniques, and demonstrating the importance of considering those concepts when designing an access structure to a DUT.