Sub-millimeter wave planar near-field antenna testing

This paper provides an overview of planar near-field antenna test systems developed for sub-millimeter wave testing. Special techniques that have been developed to overcome technical restrictions that usually limit performance at very high RF frequencies are presented. Aspects like thermal structural change, RF cable phase instability, scanner planarity and probe translation during polarization rotation are addressed. These methods have been implemented and validated on systems up to 660 GHz and 950 GHz. These cases have lead to the development of low cost commercial test systems, making antenna testing in the V and W-bands (40 – 110 GHz) cost effective.