The Total Electric Field Compared to the Rectangular Component of the Electric Field in a Complex Environment

Abstract

Strong electromagnetic waves can cause upset in and even destruction of electronic equipment. Therefore, the vulnerability of electronic equipment has to be tested. To be able to quantify the test, an unequivocal test parameter has to be defined. In the case that a plane wave is stressed onto the equipment it is easy; the strength of the electric field is an unequivocal test parameter. In an electromagnetically complex environment with electric fields polarized along different directions it is not so obvious what the test parameter should be. A reverberation chamber is an example of such a complex environment. Some people in the community advocate that a rectangular component of the field is the best measure of the strength of the field, but others advocate for that the total field (the vector sum of three orthogonal field components) is the best. The most generic standard, the IEC 61000‐4‐21 prescribes the use of the rectangular component, but others prescribe the use of the total electric field. In this paper, we do not advocate the use of either of the two alternatives, but we compare them with the purpose of making it possible to perform a conversion between different standards. Theoretical results are illustrated and compared with measured results obtained in four different reverberation chambers.