Nonlinear-Optical-Based Vector Electric and Magnetic Near-Field Probing for Analysis of Electromagnetic Compatibility

The determination of the feasibility of utilizing optically-interrogated electro-optic and magneto-optic sensors as the front-end of a new, near-field characterization system for measuring time-varying, non-sinusoidal signals in microwave digital and mixed-signal circuits is proposed. The extraction of complex signals from the internal nodes of circuits or larger systems such as multi-chip modules will be crucial to the advancement of technologies needed to increase information capacity while decreasing system size and cost. Thus, impending requirements to access either very high time resolutions or the very high frequencies of harmonics in high-data-rate systems will be addressed by the proposed approach, with a bandwidth goal extending through the millimeter-wave regime to greater than 100 GHz. Emphasis will be placed on making high spatial resolution vector measurements with negligible invasiveness while in close proximity to the surface of circuits in order that near-field signal information can be used to determine the far-field radiation emitted by the circuit or a particular portion of the circuit. The feasibility of exploiting this unique knowledge of the local field for the determination of the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of devices and circuits will be explored.