Passive inter-modulation scattering analysis of reflector considering contact nonlinearity

Passive inter-modulation (PIM) is a form of nonlinear distortion caused by the inherent nonlinearities of the passive devices and components in RF/microwave system. It will degenerate the performance of communication system with broad-band channel and high-sensitivity receiver. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a model to simulate this process in order to predict the level of PIM. This paper is aimed at constructing some plate models with one-dimensional and two-dimensional contact nonlinearity sections illuminated by two-tone waves, and calculating the scattered field at a fixed-point in space using time-domain physical optics method. By taking fast Fourier transform (FFT), we get the spectrum of the scattered field and then analyze the generated PIM products. At the end of this paper, some numerical examples are presented to show the influence rules of the relative factors on PIM. The results indicate the variation of the level of PIM with the number of the nonlinear regions, the nonlinear spacing, and the incident power levels.