Transient Radar Method: Novel Illumination and Blind Electromagnetic/Geometrical Parameter Extraction Technique for Multilayer Structures

Abstract

A novel technique enabling ultrafast nondestructive characterization of multilayer dielectric structures is proposed. Actual estimations indicate that the data acquisition performance of electronic measurement systems of today allow deep submillimeter depth resolution, almost independently of the frequency. For a 10 GHz signal, e.g., this corresponds to significant subwavelength depth resolution. By means of a novel blind analysis method of the time-dependent reflected electromagnetic (EM) signal, detailed information on the geometrical and EM parameters such as the complex valued dielectric permittivity and magnetic susceptibility of each layer of the structure can be extracted. We validate the novel technique for different materials in the 10 GHz range and compare the results obtained with S-parameter measurements in the 9.5-10.5 GHz range using a vector network analyzer. We will discuss the impact of nonidealities on the accuracy of the retrieved parameters. The novel technique has the potential for deployment in a wide range of applications ranging from the piping industry, wind energy industry, automotive, biotechnology, food industry, pharmacy, and so on.