Empirical Modeling of Contact Intermodulation Effect on Coaxial Connectors

An empirical modeling of contact nonlinearity-induced intermodulation (IM) effect on the coaxial connector is presented in this article. The IM weights on inner and outer conductors are clarified using the measurement method. The contact degeneration-induced IM evolution is quantized by considering the contact coupling effect between the inner and outer conductors. This article demonstrated a set of test methods to quantify the oxide-induced nonlinearity with contact degeneration effects, and these methods can evaluate the contact IM products and further predict the low IM lifetime of passive devices.