A pulse measurement intercomparison

A pulse measurement intercomparison, organized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and conducted by the authors in their respective labs, is described. The purpose was to assess the state of the art for time-domain pulse waveform measurements in the nanosecond regime, and to find problem areas in need of better metrology support. The experiment was conducted by circulating two stable pulse generators among the five labs; participants recorded the waveforms over two different time epochs: 10.24 ns, with 10 ps sampling period and 102.4 ns with 100 ps sampling period. The data records were sent to NIST for analysis and comparison. The pulse generators that were used produce a step-like waveform with nominal high and low states of 0.5 and 0 V, respectively, transition duration of approximately 200 ps, and significant frequency components out to almost 10 GHz. The settling behavior was purposely spoiled. Some significant measurement differences were found among the five labs. The overall experiment is described, along with measurement results and conclusions.