Do-it-Yourself Fabrication of an Open TEM Cell for EMC Pre-compliance

Abstract

The Transverse Electro-Magnetic (TEM) cell is popular among EMI/EMC community ever since its inven- tion. Its versatility in radiated susceptibility tests as well as in measuring radiated emissions from a product is well known and is widely used for in-house, pre-compliance tests. In fact, it has been used for sophisticated calibration purposes such as that of D-dot sensors. A cost effective fabrication method for an open TEM cell is presented in this paper. The proposed method uses double-sided Printed Circuit Board (PCB) sheets, instead of copper or iron sheet metal, resulting in the reduction of cost and weight of the cell. A laboratory prototype has been devel- oped without using any specialized facility. Standard for- mulae are used to design the cell dimensions. Important parameters are measured and verified with the designed values. It is evident that a low cost, lightweight and effi- cient (low VSWR) TEM cell can be constructed using PCB for EMC pre-compliance purposes.