A metrology application of reverberation chambers: the current probe calibration

Abstract—This paper presents how it is possible to characterize a current probe in terms of its transfer impedance inside a reverberation chamber. The probe catches a floating wire placed inside the working volume of the chamber. The current on the wire is calculated from the knowledge of the total measured average field along the wire in the working volume. The current is calculated by representing the field in terms of a summation of random plane waves, where a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) code is used to compute the current induced by each plane wave along the wire caught by the probe under test. Results for the current distribution along the wire are reported for several frequencies. Finally, the transfer impedance of commercial probes is recovered from the knowledge of the current and compared to the values given by the manufacturers and by an external laboratory.