Dielectric Measurement Facility

The material characterization facility in the microwave frequency band was established in the Department of Electrical Engineering in the year 2010 with CARE grants from IIT Kanpur. The facility is based on the Agilent Technologies 85070E Dielectric Probe Kit, which comes along with the vector network analyzer and associated microwave components. The established facility enables one to determine the dielectric properties or the complex permittivity of wide range of materials in the broad frequency range of 200 MHz to 20 GHz. As the dielectric properties of materials are related with their molecular structure, the measurement of dielectric properties leads to much other useful information which is otherwise quite difficult to obtain. This facility (Fig. 1) is currently installed in the Microwave Imaging and Material Testing Laboratory of the department. The facility is expected to be used by departments of Civil Engineering, Bio Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, apart from the host department.

Unique features:

The dielectric probe kit is one of the most useful methods for electromagnetic characterization of materials in the broad frequency range. The complete system is based on a network analyzer, which measures the material’s response to RF or microwave energy. The probe transmits a signal into the material under test (MUT), and the reflected data is used to determine the dielectric properties of the MUT using a special software, which is supplied along with the kit. The software controls the network analyzer and guides the user through easy setup and measurement procedures. The complex permittivity of the test sample is finally displayed on screen using the supplied software.

Location:

Microwave Imaging and Material Testing Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering,
IIT Kanpur

Contact:

Prof. M. Jaleel Akhtar

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