PERMITTIVITY AND PERMEABILITY ANALYSIS IN MONTERREY
Measuring dielectric properties involves measurements of the complex relative permittivity (Ɛr) and complex relative permeability (µr) of materials. A complex dielectric permittivity consists of a real part and an imaginary part. The real part of the complex permittivity, also known as the dielectric constant, is a measure of how much energy from an external electric field is stored in the material. The imaginary part is zero for lossless materials and is also known as the loss factor. It is a measure of how much energy the material loses due to an external electric field. The term tan δ is called the loss tangent and represents the ratio of the imaginary part to the real part of the complex permittivity. The loss tangent is also referred to by terms such as tangent loss, dissipation factor or loss factor.
Complex permeability also consists of a real part, which represents how much energy from an external magnetic field is stored in the material, while the imaginary part represents how much energy is dissipated due to the magnetic field. Measuring complex permeability is applicable only to magnetic materials. Most materials are nonmagnetic, and therefore their permeability is very close to the permeability of free space.
Table 1 shows some examples of materials with their dielectric constant and loss tangent at room temperature.
