Dielectric Spectroscopy

Background

Obtaining precise and reliable dielectric measurement data is becoming increasingly imperative to various industries as new and complex technologies emerge. The automotive industry, for example, depends on precise data to develop high capacity batteries for hybrid drive systems and robust capacitors for kinetic energy recovery systems, while the food industry must develop advanced food-processing techniques to ensure quality assurance procedures at each level. In medicine, accurate dielectric parameters of all device components must be determined to optimize medical devices by electromagnetic stimulations. Performance of antennas and microwave circuits depends on the substrate material parameters; precise data on the used materials in the development phase significantly reduces design time. The currently available measurement equipment for determining the dielectric properties of different materials as a function of frequency, however, is often cumbersome and yields imprecise measurement data.

Although a relatively new area of research at IT’IS, signficant achievements have been attained already and several new challenges await.

Selected Past Achievements

• Development of high-precision dielectric probes and advanced evaluation algorithms in cooperation with SPEAG; successful commercialization under the product name DAK in 2012
• Investigation of novel techniques for frequencies below 10 MHz In close cooperation with IT’IS USA and the University of Maryland
• Finalizing the development of the automated, easy-to-use measurement method (DAK-TL) for thin-layers of materials as part of a CTI-funded research project.

Next Challenges

• Optimizing and developing current and novel techniques to measure the dielectric properties of materials as a function of frequency for a broad range (from low frequency to optics)
• Developing novel materials with specific physical and dielectric properties
• Investigating applications of dielectric spectroscopy in medical, food, and chemical processes
• Extending measurements to magnetic materials, performing dielectric and magnetic characterization in parallel.