Heuermann HF-Technik Introduces First
Error-Corrected IM Measurement System

October 14, 2010 - Heuermann HF-Technik (HHFT, www.hhft.de) goes a step further by introducing the first error-corrected IM measurement system

A classical intermodulation (IM) measurement system essentially comprises of two signal sources, a signal combiner and a spectrum analyzer. Applications demanding high dynamic range and detecting very low level IM products require the additional use of amplifiers, filters and couplers. Using modern network analyzers with two internal RF sources and sensitive RF detectors simplifies the measurement setup and also provides a sensitivity level comparable to spectrum analyzers. Furthermore, a calibrated VNA setup also removes mismatch errors from measurements which otherwise would be present in spectrum analyzer measurements.
 
The spin-off company from the University of Aachen in Germany, Heuermann HF-Technik (HHFT, www.hhft.de) goes a step further by introducing the first error-corrected IM measurement system, shown in Fig.1. Other state of the art commercially available non-linear S- or X-parameters measurement setups use comb generators as a phase reference. High quality comb generators  are expensive and also limit the frequency resolution of a system. HHFT takes a more radical step by replacing the comb generators by a novel concept of phase reference generators. This improves the measurement accuracy and the system resolution, lowering the overall system cost at the same time. For error correction, the HHFT-product NonLin-IM (http://hhft.de/index.php?page=vna) implies either the novel multi-port S-parameter calibration procedure Without Thru  or a standard LMR procedure.

The NonLin-IM product is supported with user friendly PC interface and implying a variety of measurement test-sets for refection and transmission IM measurements.

For the first time, engineers can locate IM-sources and perform a vector or time-domain fitting or modelling of the IM-signals and components. The setup shown in Fig. 1 provides a dynamic range of 100 dBc, sufficient for the measurement of semiconductor components. This dynamic range can be extended to 160 dBc using external power amplifiers.




Contact:

Heuermann HF-Technik GmbH
Auf dem Anger 29; 52076 Aachen
Mail: Heuermann@HHFT.de
Internet: www.HHFT.de
Tel.: +49 2408/9379019 
Fax: +49 2408/9379952
Tel.-FH: +49 241/6009-52108

Sitz der Gesellschaft: Aachen 
Registergericht: Aachen HRB 14882
Geschäftsführer:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Heuermann
Dipl.-Ing. Regina Heuermann-Peters

Posted  10/19/2010