European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.49 No.2 (2011), pp.234-248 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2011 http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.

htm

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide
Moulay Driss Belrhiti Spectrometry Laboratory of Materials and Archeomaterials (LASMAR) Faculty of Sciences Moulay Ismail University, Mekns Morocco E-mail: belrhitimy@yahoo.fr Tel: (212) 66 73 48 374; Fax: (212) 53 54 6 7 083 Seddik Bri Spectrometry Laboratory of Materials and Archeomaterials (LASMAR) Faculty of Sciences Moulay Ismail University, Mekns Morocco E-mail: briseddik@gmail.com Abdelrhani Nakheli Spectrometry Laboratory of Materials and Archeomaterials (LASMAR) Faculty of Sciences Moulay Ismail University, Mekns Morocco Mustapha Haddad Spectrometry Laboratory of Materials and Archeomaterials (LASMAR) Faculty of Sciences Moulay Ismail University, Mekns Morocco Ahmed Mamouni CSAM Group, Institute of Electronics, Micro-electronics and Nanotechnology, UMR CNRS 8520 IEMN-DHS, Cit scientifique, Avenue Poincar- B.P 60069 59652 Villeneuve dAscq Cedex France E-mail: ahmed.mamouni@iemn.univ-lille1.fr Tel: (33) 3 20 19 79 39; Fax: (33) 3 20 19 78 80 Abstract This paper presents the measurement results of dielectric complex permittivity for dielectric materials based on measuring the Sij scattering parameters on the transmission line using Rectangular Wave Guide (RWG) measurements. After measuring the Sij scattering parameters of each Material Under Test (MUT) loaded in the transmission line of (RWG) with Vector Network Analyser (VNA); the Sij coefficients were equally calculated with the transmission line theory. The calculated and measured values were then matched using the Newton-Raphson method to estimate the value of relative complex permittivity; this cancels the error between the calculated and measured values of Sij parameters. The estimated values were compared with the numerical determination of complex permittivity obtained from the Nicholson-Ross formula.

Keywords: Complex Permittivity, Dielectric Materials, Measurement, Rectangular Waveguide, Newton-Raphson, Ku Band

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide

235

1. Introduction
In recent years, the dielectric properties (complex permittivity) of materials have received increasing attention along with the use of electromagnetic (EM) waves (radar/microwave) in the investigations of material and structural assessment. Dielectric properties of a material correlate with other material characteristics and may be used to determine properties such as moisture content, bulk density, biocontent, chemical concentration, and stressstrain relationship [1-2]. Generally, the integration of material in an application system requires the exact knowledge of its dielectric parameters (permittivity and permeability). In the literature, several techniques have been proposed on extracting permittivity and permeability of materials [3-6]. The rectangular waveguide technique is one of class of two ports measurement (Transmission/ Reflection). It has been extensively employed as an easy way for studying the dielectric proprieties of materials in the microwave frequency [2-6]. The aim of this work is to present the measurement results of relative complex permittivity of solid materials at the Ku band using a (RWG) measurement basing on measuring Sij parameters with a (VNA). The NewtonRaphson method is used to estimate the value of the complex permittivity with high accuracy [4, 7, 8]. The permittivity of dielectric materials: Teflon, dry area concrete, plaster and wood obtained at the Ku band using the NewtonRaphson procedure are compared with the values obtained by Nicholson-Ross formula.

2. Theory
2.1. Direct Problem This section presents computation of the Transmission Reflection (T/R) method of rectangular wave guide loaded with a dielectric sample, which subjected to an incident electromagnetic field, presented in figure 1.
Figure 1: The Rectangular Wave Guide loaded with a dielectric sample in Transmission Reflection line, the region I, II, and III are the distribution regions of the electric field.

z y x
Port1

d S11 I I d1
(MUT)

II II

S21 III III d2

Port2

The Sij parameters are obtained from an analysis of the electric field at the sample interfaces. When we assume only the TE10 dominant mode in the (RWG), the spatial distribution of the electric field in the regions I, II, and III can be written as [3-5]:

I = exp( 0 .x) + 1 . exp( .x) I I = 2 . exp( .x) + 3 . exp( .x) = 4 . exp( 0 .x) Where:

(1) (2) (3)

236

Moulay Driss Belrhiti, Seddik Bri, Abdelrhani Nakheli et al.

=j
0 = j

2 * R *R
c
2

(
)2

)2

(4) (5)

2
c
2

(6) c is the cut off wave guide, o and are the propagation constants in vacuum and in material. R * and R * are respectively the complex permeability and permittivity relative of material. is the angular frequency and c is the speed of light in vacuum. The constants i are determined from the boundary conditions. The tangential component of the electric field is continuous at sample interfaces: E I ( x = d1 ) = E II ( x = d1 ) (7) E I I ( x = d 1 + d ) = E III ( x = d 1 + d ) (8) Tangential component of the magnetic field is continuous at sample interfaces: 1 E I ( x = d1 ) 1 E II ( x = d 1 ) (9) =
0
x x

R * = ' R j. "R and R * = ' R j." R

1 E II ( x = d1 + d ) 1 E III ( x = d1 + d ) = (10) x 0 x By solving equations (7), (8), and (9), we can obtain the following explicit expression for scattering parameters, with assuming S12=S21: 2 2 (1 T ) S11 = R1 (11) 2 2 (1 T )
2 2 (1 T ) S 22 = R2 (12) 2 2 (1 T ) T (1 2 ) S 21 = R2 .R1 (13) 2 2 (1 T ) Where: R1 = exp( 0 .d1 ) (14) R 2 = exp( 0 .d 2 ) (15) d1 and d2 are the distance from the calibration reference planes to the sample ends. R1 and R2 are the respective reference plane transformation expressions. (16) T = exp( .d ) For no magnetic materials ( R = 1 ) we can define the reflection coefficient by the following expression: = 0 (17) 0 +

2.2. Inverse Problem: Newton-Raphson Method This section presents computation of the complex dielectric constant in a given sample using two ports of measurement; the Transmission and the Reflection method to determinate numerically the complex permittivity of dielectric and non magnetic material; Baker-Jarvis and al proposed a various linier combination of Sij scattering parameters [3-5]. A useful equation is:

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide

237

2 2 1 [( S12 + S 21 ) + (S 22 + S11 )] = T .(1 ) + .(1 T ) (18) 2 (1 T 2 2 ) According to the equation, varies as function of the sample length, uncertainty in scattering parameters, and loss characteristics of material [3]. After replacing T and by the expressions (16) and (17) and introducing the effective dielectric permittivity, the equation to solve can be written as follows:

1 [( S 12 + S 21 ) + ( S 22 + S11 ) ] = 2

2 * eff j.(1 + * eff ) sin( 2 .d * eff

0 g

) + 2 * eff cos(

2 .d * eff

0 g

j.(1 eff ) sin( + j.(1 + eff ) sin(

*

2 * eff

0 g

) 2 .d * eff (19) )

2 .d * eff

0 g

) + 2 * eff cos(

0 g

* 0 g is the wave length in the holder in empty cell, eff is the effective complex permittivity of

material. 0 and c are respectively the free space wave length and the cut off (RWG). 0 g has the following expression: 1 0 g = (20) 1 1 0 2 c 2 The equation (19) can be written as follows: 1 F ( * eff ) = F1 ( * eff ) + F2 ( * eff ) S Where: 2 * eff * j.(1 + eff ) sin( ) 0 g F1 ( * eff ) = 2 .d * eff * j. .(1 eff ) sin( ) + 2 * eff 0 g (21)

(22)

2. * eff cos( F2 ( * eff ) = j. .( eff . sin(

S=
*

2 * eff

0 g

)
(23)

2 .d * eff

0 g

) + 2 * eff

1 (24) [(S12 + S 21 ) + (S 22 + S11 )] 2 Solving equation (21) is performed using the iterative method of Newton-Raphson [8-9]. To start the process of iterations, the initial guess of relative dielectric permittivity * eff 0 was estimated by the Nicholson - Ross method. The second iteration of this process can now be performed using the new value of effective dielectric permittivity which can be written as follows: (25) *eff ( new) = *eff 0 + *eff 0

The variation * eff 0 between two iterations can be written as:

238
* eff
0

Moulay Driss Belrhiti, Seddik Bri, Abdelrhani Nakheli et al.

= F ( * eff 0 ) F * eff * eff 0
+ F * 2 eff

(26)

F * eff

F1 * eff

(27)

The flow chart used to estimate the values of relative dielectric permittivity of material under test using Newton-Raphson method is shown in figure 2.
Figure 2: Flow chart used to estimate the values of relative dielectric permittivity.

According to figure 2, Sij moy denotes the average value of Sij scattering parameter, is a small quantity near to zero, and the vertical bar denotes the magnitude of the complex expression. The algorithm terminates once a value of *eff is reached such that Re s ( F ( *eff )) is sufficiently close to zero.

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide

239

3. Experimental Procedure
In order to operate in the Ku band the measurement (RWG) were made using the dimensions (15,977,89) mm2. The sample holder with a width of 6,3 mm, was equally produced with the same (RWG) cross-section. Figure 3 presents the integration of the (RWG) and the sample holder in the. The (RWG) and sample holder were produced in the Institute of Electronics, Micro-electronics and Nanotechnology (IEMN), Lille - France
Figure 3: The schema illustrates the integration of the (RWG) and the sample holder in the Experimental bench.

To measure the magnitude and the phase of the Sij scattering parameters (S11, S22, S12, and S21) of each (MUT), an HP 8520 C (VNA) were used and connected to both ports of (RWG) using two coax-to-waveguide adapters as indicated in figure 2. The measurement system is automated using a computer supported Lab VIEW Software data acquisition. The measurement system is calibrated by ThruReflectLine (TRL) calibration. The TRL calibration technique is used in this measurement system to provide the ultimate accuracy by minimizing the measurement residual errors [10,11]. As shown in figure 4 the samples have been machined carefully to the same sample holder cross-section to reduce the effect of gap, between the conducting walls of sample holder and the (MUT). Figure 4.a and figure 4.b present respectively the sample holder loaded with dry area concrete sample, and wood sample.
Figure 4: Photo of the sample holder which loaded a material under test (MUT).

(a)Dry area concrete sample

(b)Wood sample

240

Moulay Driss Belrhiti, Seddik Bri, Abdelrhani Nakheli et al.

The figure 5 presents the measurement system available in the Laboratory of Micro-technology and Instrumentation for the Thermal and Electromagnetic Characterization (MITEC) group in (IEMN) institute.
Figure 5: Photo of the measurement system available in the Laboratory (MITEC) Group.

4. Results and Discussion

The procedure previously described on the flow chart (Figure 2) section 2.2, was used with the following criterion = 10 8 . The relative complex permittivity of a Teflon sample, which is known to be low-loss dielectric solid material is calculated in the Ku band [12, 5 18] GHz and presented as a real part and an imaginary part in figure 6. For the same Teflon sample, the relative complex permittivity is also calculated using Nicholson-Ross method and presented in figures 6.
Figure 6.a: Real part of complex permittivity of a Teflon sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide

241

Figure 6.b: Imaginary part of complex permittivity of a Teflon sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

The results obtained by both methods are similar to the data published in the literature [4, 5, 8, 9, 12]. After the validation of the adopted method (Newton-Raphson method described in figure 2 section 2.2), the relative complex permittivity of dry area concrete and plaster which are known to be non magnetic materials ( R=1) were determined in the Ku band. The real part and the imaginary part of relative complex permittivity of dry area concrete, which is a heterogeneous material composed of cement powder, water, fine aggregate (sand), coarse aggregate (rocks), and air (porosity) [13], are presented in figure 7.
Figure 7.a: Real part of complex permittivity of a dry area concrete sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

242

Moulay Driss Belrhiti, Seddik Bri, Abdelrhani Nakheli et al.

Figure 7.b: Imaginary part of complex permittivity of a dry area concrete sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

The two methods produced similar results. The complex permittivity of dry area concrete is = 1,76 - j.0,06 . In the dry condition, the dielectric constant of concrete does not vary much over the measured frequency range; this explains the low variation of the dielectric permittivity of dry area concrete as a function of frequency [14]. Figure 8 present the real part and the imaginary part of complex permittivity of sample plaster.
* R

Figure 8.a: Real part of complex permittivity of a plaster sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide

243

Figure 8.b: Imaginary part of complex permittivity of a plaster sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

* The complex permittivity of plaster is R = 3,12 - j.0,025 . So, the estimated results of the Newton-Raphson procedure and Nicholson-Ross technique are similar.The relative complex permittivity of the wood sample (which is known to be medium-loss dielectric and no magnetic ( r=1) material) were equally calculated in the Ku band. The real part and the imaginary part of relative complex permittivity are presented in figure 9.

Figure 9.a: Real part of complex permittivity of a wood sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

244

Moulay Driss Belrhiti, Seddik Bri, Abdelrhani Nakheli et al.

Figure 9.b: Imaginary part of complex permittivity of a wood sample over the Ku band obtained using two methods.

According to the literature, dry wood has a dielectric permittivity of about = 1,9 and tg( ) = 0,029 as a loss factor. According to our results estimated value of dielectric
' R * permittivity of wood sample is R = 2,2 - j.0,3 . The wood moisture is an argument of this slight difference [5].

5. Sensitivity Analysis
Several factors affect the accuracy of the complex permittivity determination as: the uncertainty in measured magnitude and phase of Sij parameters; errors in the sample length and the sample holder length; guides losses; air gaps between the sample and the conductive walls of the sample holder [15]. All these uncertainties are extensively treated in the literature [2-4]. In this work, we focus on the correction of complex permittivity values due to the machining inaccuracy of the sample material under test (MUT) which is causing airgap between the conducting walls of sample holder and the (MUT). Figure 10 shows the presence of the airgap which is the origin of errors in the estimated values of complex permittivity.
Figure 10: Illustration of material under test in the rectangular sample holder with the airgap.

e is small width of sample and b is small width of sample holder. The corrections on the complex permittivity of the present procedure as far as the air gap is concerned can be numerically estimated from the following equations:
e 'Rc = 'Rm * b (b e ) *
' Rm

(28)

'Rc and 'Rm

are respectively the corrected and the measured values of real part of

complex permittivity:

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide

245 (29)

' are the corrected and the measured values of imaginary part of complex ' Rc and 'Rm permittivity respectively. The error in the estimated value of real part and imaginary part of complex permittivity can be defined as indicated in the follow equation.

% Error on 'R =

' Rc

' Rm

' Rc

* 100

(30) (31)

% Error on

" " ' 'R = Rc " Rm * 100 Rc

By introducing small changes in the dimensions of the sample as shown in figure 10, the equations (28), (29), (30) and (31) are used to estimate numerically the values of ' Rc , "Rc and the associated percentage error. Figures 11 and 12 present the percentage error on the real part ) and imaginary part ( ( ' ) of complex permittivity for various values of % Error on 'R % Error on 'R airgap (airgap = 0.01 cm, airgap = 0.1 cm).
Figure 11.a: Percentage error in the estimation of the real part of relative complex permittivity as function of frequency for an airgap = 0.01 cm.

Percentage Error

Frequency (GHz)

Figure 11.b:

Percentage error in the estimation of the imaginary part of relative complex permittivity as function of frequency for an airgap= 0.01 cm.

246
Figure 12.a:

Moulay Driss Belrhiti, Seddik Bri, Abdelrhani Nakheli et al.

Percentage error in the estimation of the real part of relative complex permittivity as function of frequency for an airgap = 0.1 cm.
3

Plaster

2.5

Percentage Error

Wood

1.5

Teflon

Dry area concrete

12.5

13

13.5

14

14.5

15

15.5

16

16.5

17

17.5

18

Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)

Figure 12.b:

Percentage error in the estimation of the imaginary part of relative complex permittivity as function of frequency for an airgap= 0.1 cm.

Percentage Error

Frequency (GHz)

The presence of airgap introduces errors in the estimation value of both real and imaginary parts of the relative complex permittivity as shown in figures 11 and 12. The error increases with the size of the airgap. The effect of airgap on the percentage error is more important on the imaginary part than on the real part of relative complex permittivity. To better understand the effect of airgap on the accuracy of the complex permittivity determination, the average percentage error on the real and imaginary part of relative complex permittivity is evaluated for various airgap using the following formula, such as the number of point of measure is equal to 201.

% Error on
201

(%

Error 201

on

' R

' R

i=1

(32) (33)

% Error on
' R
" R

201

(% Error 201

on

" R

i=1

%Error on

is the average percentage error on the real part of complex permittivity

%Error on 'R is the average percentage error on the imaginary part of complex permittivity

Complex Permittivity Measurement for Dielectric Materials at Microwave Frequencies Using Rectangular Waveguide

247

Table 1 presents the average percentage error on the real and imaginary part of relative complex permittivity as functions of airgap for each sample under test at the Ku band. It is clear that the average percentage error increases for the same airgap when the value of the relative permittivity is important. For the same sample, the average percentage error becomes important when the airgap grows.
Table 1: Average percentage error on the relative complex permittivity the Ku band
Airgap (cm) Material Average percentage error (%) Teflon Dry area concrete Plaster Wood
' % E rro r R
" % E rro r R

for different airgap in

0.01 0,127 0,381 0,088 0,304 0,256 0.641 0,157 0,443

0.1 1,301 3,935 0,902 3,120 2,655 6,735 1,620 4,594

0.15 1,976 6,008 1,369 4,748 4,064 10,393 2,467 7,031

0.2 2,670 8,155 1,854 6,423 5,531 14,265 3,340 9,561

' % E rro r R
" % E rro r R

' % E rro r R
" % E rro r R

' % E rro r R
" % E rro r R

6. Conclusion
This paper presented the results of complex permittivity measurement for dielectric solid materials at the Ku band using (RWG), based on measuring Sij scattering parameters. The Sij are measured using Vector Network Analyzer calibrated by ThruReflectLine (TRL) calibration. The Newton-Raphson method is used as a numerical tool to estimate the value of relative complex permittivity of (MUT). The obtained results using the proposed method in this paper are compared with Nicholson-Ross technique. The two methods are in good agreement. The average percentage error does not expect 10,4 % on the imaginary part and 4,06 % on the real part of complex permittivity of Plaster sample for the airgap equal to 0,15 cm. Notice that the samples were machined in the laboratory with high accuracy that the airgap is very inferior to 0,01 cm. With this airgap, the average percentage error on the real part is 0.256 % and 0,641 % for the imaginary part of the relative complex permittivity when we use the plaster sample. So, the proposed method of characterisation is reliable method to extract the dielectric permittivity of low loss materials. Concerning the wood sample, the presence of water in the sample under test is an argument of the slight difference between the results obtained in this work and the results published in the literature. The moisture and its effect on the complex permittivity of wood will be studied in the future research work by other numerical methods exploiting other frequency bands.

Acknowledgement
This work has been achieved in the setting of the Franco-Moroccan cooperation VOLUBILIS program Number: MA/06/153 in scientific research and it done in the IEMN laboratories at USTL - Lille University - France.

248

Moulay Driss Belrhiti, Seddik Bri, Abdelrhani Nakheli et al. Oral Buyukozturk, Tzu-Yang Yu, and Jose Alberto Ortega., 2006. "A methodology for determining complex permittivity of construction materials based on transmission-only coherent,wide-bandwidth free-space measurements", Cement & Concrete Composites, Vol. 28, pp.349359. Manohar Deshpande, D., Jagadeswara Reddy, C., Pacita Tiemsin, I., and Robin Cravey, 1997. "A new approach to estimate complex permittivity of dielectric materials at microwave frequencies using waveguide measurements" IEEE, Vol. 45, No.3, pp. 359-366. Baker-Jarvis, J., Vanzura, E., and Kissick, W, 1990. "Improved technique for determining complex permittivity with the transmission/reflection method", IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 38, pp. 10961103. Baker-Jarvis, J., Janezic, M., Grosvenor, J., and Geyer, R, 1993. "Transmission/ reflection and short-circuit line methods for measuring permittivity and permeability", Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol., Tech. Note 1355-R. James Baker Jarvis, Michael Janozic, D., Bill Ridle, Robert Johok, T., Pavel Kabos, Christopher Halloway, L., Richard Geyer, G., Chriss Grosvenor, A, 2005. " Measuring the permittivity and permeability of lossy materials: solids, liquids, metals, building materials, and negative-index materials", Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol, Nist Tech. Note 1536. Robin Cravey, L., Pacita Tiemsin, I., Kerri Bussell, and Kenneth Dudley.L, 1995. "Dielectric Property Measurements in the Electromagnetic Properties Measurement Laboratory", Technical Memorandum 110147, NASA. Nicholson, A. M., and Ross, G. F, 1970. "Measurement of the intrinsic properties of materials by time domain techniques", IEEE Trans. Instrum.Meas, Vol. IM-19, pp. 377382. Rohde and Schwarz, 2006. "Measurement of dielectric material properties", Application Note, Application Center Asia/Pacific, RAC0607-0019, CY Kuek 07. Boughriet, A. H, 1997. "Contribution la caractrisation lectromagntique de matriaux en structures diples et quadriples- application aux tissus biologiques et aux polymres thermoplastiques", Thse, Universit des Sciences et Technologie de Lille, France, No.1968, Il Sung Seo, Woo Seok Chin, and Dai Gil Lee, 2004. "Characterization of electromagnetic properties of polymeric composite materials with free space method. Composite Structures", Vol. 66, pp. 533542. Agilent Network Analysis Applying the 8510 TRL Calibration for Non-Coaxial Measurements", Product Note 8510-8A. Zulkifly Abbas, Roger Pollard, D., Fellow, and Robert Kelsall, W, 2001. "Complex Permittivity Measurements at Ka-Band Using Rectangular Dielectric Waveguide". IEEE transactions on instrumentation and measurement, Vol. 50, No. 5, pp.1334-1342. Karl Bois, J., Aaron Benally, D., and Reza Zough, 2000. " Microwave Near-Field Reflection Property Analysis of Concrete for Material Content Determination", IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 49, No 1, pp. 49-55. Hong Rhim, C., and Oral Buyukozturk.," Electromagnetic properties at microwave ferquency range", technical paper, ACI materials journal, Vol. 95, No.3 U.C Hasar, 2009. permittivity measurement of thin dielectric materials from reflection-only measurements using one-port vector network analyzers, Progress In Electromagnetics Research PIER 95, pp. 365-380.

References
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] [8] [9]

[10]

[11] [12]

[13]

[14] [15]