Calibrating a Radio-Frequency Electro-Optic Sensor for Field Relevant Temperature Conditions in a Laboratory Setting

Legacy high powered electric field measurement devices, such as flush plate dipoles (D-dots) and waveguides, are the primary diagnostic tools used for free-field experimentation. Unfortunately, these metallic devices perturb the electric field of interest via scattering and require the use of coaxia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE sensors journal 2023-02, p.1-1
Main Authors: Sherburne, Michael D., Harjes, Cameron D., Pohle, Hugh H., Lehr, Jane M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crystals
Electro-optical waveguides
Electro-optics
environmental chamber
lithium niobate
Probes
Sensors
TEM cells
Temperature measurement
Temperature sensors
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Summary:Legacy high powered electric field measurement devices, such as flush plate dipoles (D-dots) and waveguides, are the primary diagnostic tools used for free-field experimentation. Unfortunately, these metallic devices perturb the electric field of interest via scattering and require the use of coaxial cables (fluctuates with temperature). Electro-optic (EO) probes offer a potential solution as they minimally perturb the electric field and fiber optic cables can be designed to correct out or prevent temperature fluctuations. However, to replace the legacy diagnostics, it is critical that the EO probes are calibrated in field relevant conditions (outdoor temperatures between 1.4°C-49°C). Characterization of a modern EO sensor is done by using an environmental chamber and a gigahertz transverse electromagnetic (GTEM) cell. The collected data in this paper indicates that modern LiNbO 3 EO sensors have linear changes across both various temperatures and electric fields. This paper outlines the process of creating field relevant conditions in the laboratory settings. Because temperature effects are ubiquitous with most devices, the temperature response of the EO probe needed to be isolated from all other temperature effects. Using a novel way in applying the design of experiments (DoE) method, the temperature response of the EO probe can be isolated and a linear trend can be resolved. The data suggests that the EO probe under test can be used to measure RF fields as long as a small correction factor is applied of 0.52% per °C for every °C away from 22.0°C in either direction.
ISSN:1530-437X
DOI:10.1109/JSEN.2023.3242330