Fast, nondestructive, and broadband dielectric characterization for polymer sheets

Hsin Yu Yao^1*, Dan Ru Hsiao¹, Tsun Hsu Chang¹

¹Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

* Presenter:Hsin Yu Yao, email:s5te633v@hotmail.com

A compact nearfield scheme for fast and broadband dielectric characterization in the microwave region is demonstrated. We propose to use an open-type circular probe operated in the high-purity TE01 mode, which shows a strongly-confined fringing field at the open end. Such fringing field directly probe the freestanding sheet sample, and the total reflection is measured. Based on this scheme, the system assembling time and the risk of sample damage can be significantly reduced due to bypassing the complicated sample-loading processes. Besides, the nearfield measurement simplifies the calibration and the retrieval theory, facilitating the development of easy-to-integrate and easy-to-calibrate dielectric characterization technique. The dielectric properties of more than ten polymers were characterized from 30 GHz to 40 GHz. We believe this novel characterization method can benefit the development of the designs, fabrications, and manufacture quality controls of 5G high-frequency devices.

Keywords: polymer dielectric characterization, nearfield measurement, mode converter, transmission/reflection method