HPM simulation fidelity studies

In testing full systems in High Power Microwave (HPM) simulators, there may be need to expose one or a few POEs at a time in the near-field of the source antenna. In doing so, several important issues must be addressed: What is the near-field structure of the source antenna and how does it affect coupling. Are there significant mutual interactions between the source antenna and the test object. Between the POEs. How does the phase front of an incident wave contribute to coupling via multiple POEs. Can near-field tests on individual POEs be superimposed to predict the coupling response to plane wave (far-field) illumination of multiple POEs. Does near-field receiving cross-section have meaning, and if so, how does it compare with the far-field cross section. Which are the most important POEs and at what frequencies are they important. This paper gives an overview of many of these issues and sites examples. Experimental results are given for near-field coupling into a generic test object. While we do not exhaustively answer all of these questions, certain trends are observed. From these, some general conclusions are drawn to guide the use of HPM simulators for testing full systems.