Moving Reference Planes for On-Wafer Measurements Using The TRL Calibration Technique

A method is presented for changing the positions of the reference planes for automatic network analyzer (ANA) measurements using a single set of calibration standards and the THRU-REFLECT-LINE (TRL) calibration procedure. The reference planes can be set from either the THRU or REFLECT calibration standard. However, if the THRU is used, the reference planes can also be set in various positions by changing the defined delay of the THRU and calibrating. The reference planes can be moved symmetrically from the center of the THRU toward the edges of the THRU with only one set of calibration standards. A simple experiment is presented to show the accuracy of setting the reference planes using this method. Test results show that reference planes can be set to within a 5 micron window on a 150 micron transmission line.