The detection of high frequency overvoltage and partial discharge is of great significance in evaluating the insulation condition of high-voltage power equipment. A wideband GHz electric field (E-field) sensor for electromagnetic pulse (EMP) signal measurement was proposed in this paper. An optical fiber transmission link was adopted in the design in order to implement high-voltage isolation and reduce electromagnetic interference during transmission. The designed sensor was mainly made up of a differential electric field (D-dot) antenna, transmitter, and receiver. The D-dot antenna was designed to detect high frequency E-field strength and generate a corresponding voltage signal, which was converted into an optical signal by the transmitter. The optical signal could be transmitted a large distance through an optical fiber without electromagnetic interference and changed back to a voltage signal again by a receiver. The design process of the sensor was introduced in detail, and experiments were performed using a gigahertz transverse electromagnetic (GTEM) cell and an EMP simulator to verify it. The results indicated that the designed sensor had a good performance besides an expectable delay due to the optional amplifier.
Keywords: D-dot antenna; E-Field sensor; EMP measurement; optical fiber transmission link; partial discharge; transient overvoltage.