Intermodulation distortion (IMD) is a powerful measurement tool for characterizing the linearity of emerging devices; unfortunately, the setup complexity for millimeter wave (mm-wave) prevents many engineers from currently using this tool.
A straightforward IMD approach consists of using two synthesizers, two source modules and a combining network. The resulting mm-wave two-tones connect to the DUT and eventually outputs to a spectrum analyzer for measurement. In many cases, the DUT also requires gain compression, harmonics and S-parameter measurements for thorough characterization. Ideally, a single instrument using a single connection offers potential improvements in efficiency, throughput, precision and capital equipment expenditures. For that reason, the purpose of this application note is to describe how to conduct IMD measurements using the T/R-IMD module from OML.
You can also see the following YouTube videos for a virtual demonstration:
OML and Agilent PNA (direct connect) IMD Measurement
OML and Agilent PNA-X IMD Measurement Part 1
OML and Agilent PNA-X IMD Measurement Part 2
