Three dimensional electric field measurement
method based on coplanar decoupling structure
Xiaolong Wen
1, 2
, Dongming Fang
1
, Chunrong Peng
1
, Pengfei Yang
3
, Fengjie Zheng
1
, Shanhong Xia
1
Email: wenguangguy@163.com
1
State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Institute of Electronics,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
2
Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
3
National Key Laboratory of Nano/Micro Fabrication Technology, Institute of Microelectronics, Peking University, Beijing
100871, China
Abstract—This paper proposes a simple and precise way to
measure three dimensional (3D) electric field (E-field). By means
of creating and deriving a coupling sensitivity matrix, the 3D E-
field can be accurately measured by using three electric field
sensing elements distributed on a plane. The cross interferences
between these sensing elements can be effectively eliminated.
Finite element simulations and experiments have demonstrated
that the measured result is accurate for any random rotation
angle.
Keywords—Coplanar decoupling structure, coupling
interference, coupling sensitivity matrix, three dimension
calibration, three dimensional electric field
I. INTRODUCTION
Measurement of 3D E-filed has great demands in the fields
of aerospace, meteorological research, smart gird and so on.
Investigations on the charge distribution in clouds [1], lightning
mechanism [2], etc. demand of 3D E-filed sensors, which can
provide information for preventing space launch from lightning
strokes [3]. Furthermore, the assessment of the health hazards
of electromagnetic radiation near the transmission lines [4], the
detection of faulty composite insulators [5], the measurements
of power system voltages [6], etc. also employ 3D E-field
sensors.
Conventionally, 3D E-field sensors take measurement from
arranging three pairs of conductive electrodes orthogonally [7],
however, the cross interferences are difficult to avoid. In
addition, the measurement of 3D E-field by airborne develops a
matrix inversion technique to eliminate the coupling
interference [8], but the calibration of the 3D E-field needs to
perform roll and pitch maneuvers of the aircraft under different
weather conditions, which is complex and inconvenient.
Different from previous methods, based on three sensing
elements arbitrarily distributed on a plane and a decoupling
sensitivity matrix, this paper proposes a novel method to
precisely measure 3D E-field and eliminate cross interferences.
II. M
EASUREMENT METHOD
Fig. 1 is a 3D E-field sensor model introduced in this paper.
It consists of three coplanar sensing elements and a substrate. A
local coordinate system is defined along the model.
Generally, each sensing element shows linear response to
every component of applied E-field. This coupling
characteristics could be described by the matrix equation as
110 1 1 1 x
220 2 2 2
330 3 3 3
xyz
yzy
yzz
VV a a a E
VV a a a E
VV a a a E
⎛⎞
−
⎛⎞ ⎛⎞
⎜⎟
⎜⎟ ⎜⎟
−=
⎜⎟
⎜⎟ ⎜⎟
⎜⎟ ⎜⎟
⎜⎟
−
⎝⎠ ⎝⎠
⎝⎠
(1)
Where
i
V is the real-time output of element i,
0i
V is the
zero output. The coupling sensitivity
a
iq
is the sensitivity of
element i
to E-field from direction q.
q
is one of three
components of external E-field
E. 1, 2, 3i = . ,,qxyz= .
The coupling sensitivity is determined only by the sensor
shape and each sensing element’s sensing capability. As for 3D
E-field sensor, the coupling sensitivity
-1
111
222
333
=
xyz
xyz
xyz
aaa
aaa
aaa
⎛⎞
⎜⎟
⎜⎟
⎜⎟
⎝⎠
0
S
is a constant, which could be calibrated before measurement.
The flow chart of 3D E-field measurement method is as shown
in Fig. 2.
Fig. 1. 3D E-field sensor model. It consists of three E-field sensing elements
distributed on a plane.
978-1-4799-0162-3/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE