1

1he Laboratory of L|ectromagnet|c I|e|ds

1he Laboratory of L|ectromagnet|c I|e|ds - locaLed ln Lhe LnLA Casaccla 8esearch CenLre, near 8ome - was esLabllshed ln
1983 wlLh Lhe alm of supporLlng Lhe e|ectromagnet|c compat|b|||ty quallflcaLlon LesLs on elecLronlc and elecLromechanlcal
componenLs of nuclear or lndusLrlal planLs operaLlng ln hosLlle envlronmenLs.
ln Lhe followlng years, acLlvlLles evolved ln supporL Lo Lhe clvll, mlllLary and avlonlc secLors, wlLh a speclal care Lo SMLs LesL
acLlvlLles and research pro[ecLs ln collaboraLlon wlLh unlverslLy lnsLlLuLes and deparLmenLs.












lrom 1990, Lhe LaboraLory sLarLed Lo perform 8&u on Lhe numer|ca|
mode|||ng of propagaLlon and scaLLerlng of elecLromagneLlc waves ln
complex envlronmenLs. ln such a framework, several numerlcal codes
have been developed (e.g., Lhe hybrld lu1u/klrchhoff Nemes|s code, a
semlauLomaLlc lu1u mesher) lmplemenLed ln boLh sequenLlal and paral-
lel (clusLer), and masslvely-parallel compuLers.
ln 2000, Lhe LaboraLory wldened lLs experlmenLal faclllLles by bulldlng Lhe "Vecuv|a" sem|-anecho|c sh|e|d|ng chamber for
elecLromagneLlc compaLlblllLy measuremenLs and LesLs ln compllance wlLh Lhe clvll and mlllLary sLandards aL a 3 m dls-
Lance from Lhe radlaLlon source and 10 kPz - 18 CPz frequency range.
ln 2004, Lhe LaboraLory sLarLed a new research acLlvlLy on Lhe numer|ca| mode|||ng and exper|menta| character|zat|on of
new mater|a|s for e|ectromagnet|c app||cat|ons, such as shleldlng maLerlals and coaLlngs, radlaLlon absorblng maLerlals,
frequency selecLlve maLerlals, meLamaLerlals.

Cn behalf of ubllc AuLhorlLles, Lhe LaboraLory performs env|ronmenta| measurements of elecLrlc fleld levels for human
healLh proLecLlon (e.g., Lhe measuremenL of elecLrlc fleld levels from broadcasLlng anLennas on behalf of lLallan MlnlsLry
for Lhe LnvlronmenL) and speclal measuremenLs for whlch no sLandard can be adopLed (e.g., characLerlzaLlon of Lhe
shleldlng power of devlces Lo reduce moblle phone emlsslons, elecLrlc and elecLromagneLlc characLerlzaLlon of personal
securlLy devlces on behalf of Lhe lLallan SLaLe ollce). lurLhermore, Lhe LaboraLory performs more general measuremenLs
on elecLromagneLlc flelds such as Lhe character|zat|on of f|e|d sensors and antennas, Lhe measuremenL of antenna rad|a-
t|on patterns and Lhe valldaLlon of numerlcal modelllng resulLs.


2
Electromagnetic Compatibility Tests

On demand by external customers, both public and pri-
vate, the Laboratory of Electromagnetic Fields per-
forms electromagnetic compatibility tests on electric
and electronic devices and systems.

The experimental equipment allows to execute a large
range of tests of radiated and conducted emission and
radiated and conducted susceptivity, compliant with
the civil, military and avionics standards, as explained
in the following table.




Test description Reference Standards
Tests on avionic systems RTCA/DO-160C
Tests on military systems
MIL STD 461 rev. C/D/E
MIL STD 462 rev. C/D
Tests of radiated and conducted emission on information technology equipments EN 55022
Tests of radiated and conducted emission on industrial, scientific and medical (ISM)
radio-frequency equipments
EN 55011
Tests of immunity to electrostatic discharge EN 61000-4-2
Tests of radiated susceptivity EN 61000-4-3
Tests of immunity to bursts EN 61000-4-4
Tests of conducted susceptivity EN 61000-4-6


The Laboratory of Electromagnetic Fields performs electromagnetic compatibility qualification tests particularly favouring
the support and technical advice aspects, especially during the product engineering stage. This activity is also performed
for test campaigns not immediately classifiable as qualification test requests.



Radiated
emission
Device under Test
Conducted
susceptivity
Conducted
emission
Radiated su-
sceptivity


3
1he VLCUVIA Sem|-Anecho|c Chamber
1he VLCUVIA seml-anecholc chamber ls Lhe maln LesL faclllLy of Lhe
LnLA LaboraLory of LlecLromagneLlc llelds performlng e|ectromagnet|c
compat|b|||ty LesLs and measuremenLs aL a 3 m dlsLance from anLennas.
lLs exLernal dlmenslons are (9.00 x 6.00 x 3.60) m
3
.
1he ouLer sh|e|ded chamber cuLs off Lhe radlaLlon flelds whlch are ln
Lhe exLernal envlronmenL and prevenLs flelds generaLed lnslde from
propagaLlng ouLwards. lL ensures aLLenuaLlon levels hlgher Lhan 80 d8
ln Lhe 10 - 100 kPz frequency range and hlgher Lhan 100 d8 ln Lhe 100
kPz - 18 CPz frequency range.
1he lnLernal slde walls and celllng have been enLlrely covered by 1Dk
I8-011 ferr|te t||es havlng dlmenslons (10 x 10 x 0.63) cm
3
ln order Lo
absorb Lhe lncldenL radlaLlons up Lo 1 CPz.
1he operaLlve range of Lhe VLCUVIA seml-anecholc chamber has been exLended up Lo 18 CPz by lnsLalllng an ulLra wlde
band 1Dk I-04SC absorber on lLs slde walls and celllng.
1he absorblng layer sLrongly weakens Lhe elecLromagneLlc flelds generaLed
lnslde Lhe chamber LhaL hlL Lhe walls and also reduces elecLromagneLlc echoes
(from whlch Lhe Lerm anecho|c Lakes orlgln). ln Lhls way lL ls posslble Lo slmu-
laLe Lhe performance and Lhe characLerlsLlcs of an Cpen Area 1est S|te.
lnslde Lhe seml-anecholc chamber
a ralsed Lechnlcal meLal-plaLed
floor has been lnsLalled so Lo func-
Llon as a ref|ect|ng p|ane for
elecLromagneLlc radlaLlons
(ground p|ane).
lL ls posslble Lo modlfy Lhe VLCU-
VIA seml-anecholc chamber ln
order Lo slmulaLe - especlally for
Lhe radlaLed lmmunlLy LesLs - a
fu||y anecho|c chamber approprlaLely dlsposlng several panels covered wlLh
ferrlLe Llles or absorber panels on Lhe ground plane.
1he equlpmenL under LesL ls placed over a turntab|e havlng a 2 m dlameLer
and 1000 kg as maxlmum permlsslble load. lL has been embedded ln Lhe
ground plane so Lo ensure elecLrlcal conLlnulLy wlLh lL.
AnLennas are placed on a mast allowlng a verLlcal elevaLlon from 1 m up Lo 4 m and a 90 roLaLlon around Lhe horlzonLal
axls (horlzonLal and verLlcal polarlzaLlon).
8oLh devlces can be remoLe-conLrolled by opLlcal flbers Lhus avoldlng
any posslble lnLerference wlLh Lhe measurlng process.
8oLaLlng Lhe devlce
under LesL and
modlfylng, aL Lhe
same, Llme Lhe ele-
vaLlon and polarlza-
Llon of Lhe anLenna
mounLed on Lhe
masL made lL possl-
ble Lo ldenLlfy Lhe
maxlmum emlsslon conflguraLlons as requlred by some lmporLanL elec-
LromagneLlc compaLlblllLy sLandards (LN SS022, LN SS011).


4
Laboratory Lqu|pment
1he maln lnsLrumenL used ln Lhe LaboraLory of LlecLromagneLlc llelds
Lo perform LesLs and measuremenLs ls Lhe specLrum analyzer.

1he LaboraLory ls equlpped wlLh Lhree specLrum analyzers:

Lhe Ag||ent L4440A spectrum ana|yzer, operaLlng beLween 3 Pz and
26 CPz, ls used for radlaLed and conducLed emlsslon quallflcaLlon
LesLs and for sLudy and research on new-generaLlon Lelecommunlca-
Llon devlces and sysLems (CSM, uM1S, WLAn, 8lueLooLh),

Lhe LMI (L|ectroMagnet|c Interference) n 8S74A rece|ver ls an ln-
LegraLed sysLem conslsLlng of a specLrum analyzer, a quasl-peak
adapLer and a frequency pre-selecLor. lL ls sulLed for elecLromagneLlc
compaLlblllLy LesLs ln Lhe range 100 Pz - 1.3 CPz. 1he whole equlp-
menL ls conLrolled by a compuLer code for compleLe managemenL of
Lhe emlsslon LesLs (LesL seLup, Lransducer daLabase, acqulslLlon and
sLorage of experlmenLal daLa),

Lhe n 8S94L spectrum ana|yzer, operaLlng beLween 9 kPz and 2.9
CPz, ls used as a selecLlve meLer ln laboraLory and for narrow-band
measuremenLs ln open fleld



lurLhermore Lhe LaboraLory ls endowed wlLh several
8adlo lrequency lnsLrumenLs lncludlng:

power amp||f|ers ln Lhe frequency range 10 kPz - 1
CPz wlLh a maxlmum power of 100 W,
s|gna| generators from 9 kPz up Lo 4 CPz,
|sotrop|c sensors of e|ectr|c f|e|d from 10 kPz up Lo 3
CPz,
ne|mho|tz co|| Lo generaLe magneLlc flelds.
1LM ce|| and doub|e 1LM ce|| Lo generaLe elecLrlc
flelds up Lo 200 MPz,
power meters,
several klnds of antennas (rod, blconlc, log-perlodlc, horn) ln Lhe frequency range 10 kPz - 18 CPz,
several equlpmenLs and lnsLrumenLs for elecLromagneLlc compaLlblllLy quallflcaLlon LesLs, ln compllance wlLh dlfferenL
sLandards, such as LISN, CDN, current c|amps, trans|ent generators, and e|ectrostat|c d|scharge generators.

Moreover, Lhe laboraLory ls equlpped wlLh a LeCroy WaveMas-
ter 8S00 d|g|ta| osc|||oscope, whlch ls able Lo sample slgnals aL a
maxlmum speed of 20 CS/s up Lo 3 CPz. 1hls lnsLrumenL ls used
Lo characLerlze waveforms and pulses wlLh hlgh frequency con-
LenL.




S
Numer|ca| Methods to Mode| L|ectromagnet|c I|e|ds
Nemes|s ls a compuLer code allowlng modellng
Lhe physlcal phenomena of propagaLlon and
scaLLerlng of elecLromagneLlc flelds. lL has been
developed by Lhe LnLA LaboraLory of LlecLro-
magneLlc llelds.
1he Maxwe||'s d|fferent|a| equat|ons are dls-
creLlsed and lnLegraLed by uslng Lhe f|n|te-
d|fference t|me-doma|n (ID1D) meLhod. AL Lhe
border of Lhe compuLaLlonal domaln, Lhe Mur's
second order absorpt|on cond|t|ons or Lhe
8renger's erfect|y Matched Layer cond|t|ons
are applled so Lo slmulaLe Lhe physlcal condl-
Llons of open space.
When slmulaLlng very large domalns (of Lhe
order of one hundred or one thousand of
wave|enghts), Lhe consLralns lmposed on Lhe
mlnlmum lengLh of Lhe grld cells ( )
make lL pracLlcally lmposslble Lo use Lhe lu1u
meLhod due Lo Lhe huge memory requlred by
Lhe algorlLhm (of Lhe order of 40
3
bytes,
where ls Lhe number of cells along a dlrec-
Llon ln Lhe model coordlnaLe sysLem).
1o geL round Lhls klnd of dlfflculLles and aL Lhe same
Llme preserve all Lhe beneflLs of Lhe lu1u meLhod, a
modlfled code has been lmplemenLed where Lhe
k|rchhoff's |ntegra| has been used Lo perform a
"near-f|e|d to far-f|e|d" transformat|on, Lhus obLaln-
lng a hybrld code.
1he baslc ldea underlylng Lhe ID1D]k|rchhoff hybr|d
method (also known as "Mu|t|p|e-keg|on ID1D"
[Mk]ID1D]) ls Lo explolL Lhe facL LhaL propagaLlon of
elecLromagneLlc flelds mosLly occurs ln free space or
homogeneous medla. Pence, modelllng Lhose por-
Llons of space by adopLlng Lhe same space resoluLlon
by whlch elecLromagneLlc sources or scaLLerers are
modelled ls very memory consumlng and no lnLeresL-
lng daLa wlll generally be obLalned.
1he whole slmulaLlon domaln can
Lherefore be dlvlded lnLo smaller sub-
domalns surroundlng more lnLeresL-
lng elecLromagneLlc sLrucLures such
as sources or scaLLerers whlch wlll be
modelled by Lhe classlcal lu1u
meLhod. 1he elecLromagneLlc flelds
wlll be Lhen propagaLed Lowards Lhe
oLher sub-domaln surfaces by uslng
Lhe k|rchhoff's |ntegra| so|ut|on of
Maxwell's equaLlons.
1he adopLlon of Lhe ID1D]k|rchhoff
hybr|d method allows Lo save a con-
slderable quanLlLy of memory and,
Lherefore, Lo slmulaLe more complex
and larger domalns, aL Lhe cosL of an
lncrease ln compuLaLlonal Llmes.
FDTD
FDTD
FDTD
FDTD
FDTD
Kirchhoff


6
Numer|ca| Methods to Mode| L|ectromagnet|c I|e|ds
An anLenna for CSM LelecommunlcaLlons ls shown ln Lhe lefL flgure whlle Lhe rlghL one represenLs a Lrldlmenslonal graph
of Lhe elecLrlc fleld emlLLed along Lhe dlrecLlon as calculaLed wlLh Lhe NLMLSIS hybrld code (collaboraLlon LNLA - 1LLL-
CCM Ita||a Lab).


Antenna GSM Iay-8eam 7276
(nd-feed s/eeve-dipo/e)

Center band frequency:
2 Gnz


Numer|ca| resu|ts for the e|ec-
tromagnet|c f|e|d em|tted by
the Iay-8eam 7276 antenna


A furLher example ls glven by Lhe slmulaLlon of an anLenna for elecLromagneLlc compaLlblllLy LesLs.


Loq-Periodic uipo/e 4rroy 4ntenno (LDA) kad|at|on patterns of LDA at d|fferent frequenc|es
operat|ng between 200 Mnz and 1 Gnz ( Numer|ca| resu|ts - Lxper|menta| data)


1he codes developed by Lhe LaboraLory of LlecLromagneLlc llelds have been an lnLegral parL of Lhe acLlvlLles of Lhe pro[ecL
"rotect|on of human and natura| env|ronment from e|ectromagnet|c em|ss|ons" developed by Lhe Ita||an Nat|ona| ke-
search Counc|| and LNLA and co-flnanced by Lhe Ita||an M|n|stry of Sc|ent|f|c kesearch.
ln Lhe amblL of Lhe ro[ecL, Lhe LaboraLory of LlecLromagneLlc llelds has lmproved Lhe lu1u/klrchhoff NLMLSIS code. lL
has also developed a graphlcal user lnLerface (Aphrod|te) Lo manage Lhe lnpuL and ouLpuL flles, besldes a proLoLype of an
auLomaLlc lu1u mesh generaLor from CAu flles (Dxf2msh).


CAD mode| of an a|rp|ane Automat|ca||y generated ID1D mesh of the a|rp|ane


7
Lnv|ronmenta| Measurements and L|ectromagnet|c
Character|sat|on
Cn behalf of publlc auLhorlLles (MlnlsLry of Lhe LnvlronmenL,
Local AuLhorlLles) Lhe LaboraLory of LlecLromagneLlc llelds
measured Lhe elecLromagneLlc fleld values ln Lhe envlron-
menL ln order Lo verlfy Lhey were compllanL wlLh Lhe lLallan
law sLandards.
ln parLlcular, durlng Sprlng 2001 Lhe LaboraLory of Llec-
LromagneLlc llelds monlLored Lhe values of Lhe elecLro-
magneLlc fleld ln Lhe area surroundlng Lhe vaLlcan 8adlo
SLaLlon ln SanLa Marla dl Calerla (8ome).

ln 2003, on behalf of Lhe Local AuLhorlLy of Angulllara Sa-
bazla (8ome), Lhe elecLromagneLlc fleld was measured Lo
verlfy Lhe exlsLlng values before lnsLalllng some uM1S
moblle anLennas.

1he LaboraLory of LlecLromagneLlc llelds also performs
measuremenLs of Lhe elecLromagneLlc characLerlsaLlon of
elecLrlc and elecLronlc devlces on behalf of and ln supporL
Lo ubllc AuLhorlLles. 1o make an example, Lhe elecLro-
magneLlc characLerlsaLlon of an elecLrosLaLlc dlscharge
gun, performed on behalf of lLallan SLaLe ollce.




8

Electromagnetic Equipment for Medical Applications
The Laboratory of Electromagnetic Fields started researching on the study and development of electromagnetic equip-
ment for medical applications: ex vivo and in vivo electromagnetic characterisation of biological tissues; early detection
of tumours of prostate, bladder, breast; microwave imaging to detect and locate tumours.

As an example, the side picture shows the experimental
setup to measure the electric permittivity of steer
liver (in quartz tubes) by using a cylindrical resonant cav-
ity.

Currently the possibility to develop special probes to
measure the electromagnetic properties of in vivo tis-
sues instead of exsected tissues is being studied in order
to obtain more realistic experimental data to be used in
theoretical models and numerical simulations.

In the framework of collaboration agreements with the
II Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and with the De-
partment of Electronic Engineering of the University
La Sapienza of Rome, the Laboratory of Electromag-
netic Fields started a study on the electronic and elec-
tromagnetic characterisation of TRIMprob, an instru-
ment detecting prostate cancers. The study is aimed at collecting the experimental data processed by the device and at
verifying the physical principles of operation and interaction with biological tissues.

Finally, the Laboratory is involved in the study and research on microwave imaging equipment allowing to detect and lo-
cate breast tumours.