Establishing waveguide lines as primary standards for scattering parameter measurements at submillimetre wavelengths

This paper presents a detailed assessment of two rectangular metallic waveguide lines in order that they can be used as primary standards to provide metrological traceability for electrical scattering parameter measurements at submillimetre wavelengths. The assessment comprises a series of dimensional measurements to determine the overall quality of the lines in terms of the waveguide aperture size and alignment. This is followed by electrical measurements to confirm the electrical behaviour of the lines. Finally, the lines are employed as standards to calibrate a vector network analyser which is used to measure devices to verify the performance of the lines as calibration standards, in operando. The waveguide size is WM-380, which operates from 500 GHz to 750 GHz.