Within the enclosure lies conductive material, forming a section of transmission stripline that can be connected to standard coaxial cables.
The interior of the cell acts as a waveguide and converts electric signals into homogeneous electromagnetic fields with approximately transverse mode distribution, similar to free space.
The electric and magnetic field inside the cell can be accurately predicted using numerical methods.
The original design of the cell is rectangular in shape, although many variations and improvements have been made since its creation in the early 1970's.
At low frequencies, it operates as a circuit 50 Ohm load; at high frequencies, the absorbers attenuate the incident waves as in an anechoic chamber, In this way, a termination from DC to several Gigahertz is achieved.