A broadband method for measuring the complex permeability of thin magnetic films using a short-circuited microstrip fixture is presented. The method is based on full one-port offset-short calibration implemented directly in the fixture with a movable shorting wall, reducing sensitivity to coaxial-to-strip transition imperfections and eliminating the need for its precise optimization. Field-dependent normalization to the empty fixture reduces systematic errors from the external magnetic field, and a correction for residual saturated permeability improves retrieval accuracy. The method was validated on Co, supermalloy, and FeCo films on flexible PET substrates. Retrieved spectra agreed well with reference coaxial data and with the spectrum reconstructed from static magnetic measurements. In the present implementation, broadband spectra were obtained from 0.1 to 20 GHz with no significant systematic distortion, indicating that the proposed approach is suitable for accurate broadband characterization of thin magnetic films without reference standards or precise optimization of the coaxial-to-strip transition.
Ivanov et al. (Thu,) studied this question.