Noncontact RF Voltage Sensing of a Printed Trace via a Capacitive-Coupled Probe

Abstract

This paper presents a noncontact radio frequency voltage sensing of a printed trace by using a capacitive-coupled probe. The noncontact voltage sensing is demonstrated by using an open-end coaxial probe, and achieved through the transfer factor from the printed trace to the probe and a reconstruction algorithm. To validate the voltage sensing, known periodic, and pulse voltages are injected into the printed trace and compared with the reconstructed waveforms. Our results demonstrate that the voltage sensing method can be used for measurement of a random waveform with period even down to 1 ns and single pulse with rise time down to 2 ns. In consideration of the flexible relocation of the probe, the voltage sensing accuracy caused by spatial errors is also investigated.