Suppression of reflections by directive probes in spherical near-field measurements

The influence of probe correction in spherical near-field measurements on signals from outside the test volume is investigated theoretically and experimentally. It is found that the suppression of reflections obtained by a directive probe is not disturbed by the probe correction. A geometric relation between the antenna "minimum sphere" and the probe pattern beamwidth is established, whose satisfaction guarantees the absence of numerical instabilities in the far-field computation. The condition is sufficient, but not necessary if the "minimum sphere" of the antenna is in the near field of the probe.