Passive Intermodulation Effect on Antennas and Passive Components

The Passive Intermodulation (PIM) phenomenon occurs because of non-linearities in antennas or passive components. When data rates are increasing in next generation communication systems like in 4G and 5G, PIM is getting even crucial and costly problem. Unwanted harmonics and intermodulation products might occur in communication band and this can take down the communication network. The main reasons of PIM are metal-oxide junctions because of oxidation and corrosion and metal-metal junctions because of different and irregular metal contact surfaces. This work presents PIM mechanisms, design considerations to eliminate PIM effects and PIM measurement test setups for any communication standards (2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G).