Development of an Optically Modulated Scatterer Probe for a Near-Field Measurement System

: In high-fidelity, near-field measurements, the measurement probe must minimally impact the near-field of the antenna-under-test. To accomplish this, we developed an optically modulated, near-field probe which consists of a rectangular dipole antenna loaded with a photodiode. The modulation scheme separates scattering off of the probe from background reflections. We present the design and performance of an optically modulated scatterer (OMS) probe for use in a near-field measurement system