A novel high-impedence probe for multi-gigahertz signal measurement

Author

Shinagawa, Mitsuru ; Nagatsuma, Tadao

Author_Institution

NTT LSI Labs., Kanagawa, Japan

Volume

45

Issue

2

fYear

1996

fDate

4/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

575

Lastpage

579

Abstract

This paper describes a novel high-impedance hand-held probe based on electro-optic sampling (EOS) for multi-GHz signal measurement of on-board circuits. The probe head and detection optics are assembled into a compact probe module. The probe head consists of a metal needle tip and an EO material. The top of the needle is bonded to the EO material. When the needle makes contact with the signal line of a circuit under test, the signals are measured by detecting the polarization change of laser pulses that propagate through the EO material. The effective 3-dB down bandwidth of the EOS high-impedance probe is 10 GHz. The voltage sensitivity is 0.5 mV/√Hz. The input resistance and capacitance are >100 MΩ and <0.2 pF, respectively. The probe head is very durable and is not susceptible to electrostatic discharge. The probe has been successfully applied to measure multi-GHz signals of on-board communication IC´s

Keywords

digital integrated circuits; electro-optical devices; integrated circuit measurement; measurement by laser beam; multichip modules; portable instruments; printed circuit testing; probes; telecommunication equipment testing; waveform analysis; 0.2 pF; 10 GHz; 100 Mohm; 3 dB; EO material; communication IC; compact probe module; detection optics; electro-optic sampling; electrostatic discharge; high-impedance probe; high-impedence probe; input capacitance; input resistance; laser pulses; metal needle tip; multi-GHz signals; multi-gigahertz signal measurement; multiGHz signal measurement; onboard circuits; polarization change; voltage sensitivity; Circuit testing; Earth Observing System; Electrical resistance measurement; Needles; Optical detectors; Optical materials; Optical sensors; Probes; Pulse measurements; Sampling methods;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.492790

Filename

492790