A WIDE-BAND DIELECTRIC CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM FOR LIQUID MATERIALS OF INTEREST IN BIOLOGY

In many fields of applied research interest exists for wideband dielec tric characterization of liquid materials; for example, aqueous soluti ons of biological materials. For this purpose a particular procedure i s proposed, based on the use of a Vectorial Network Analyzer and a sui tably designed reflection test cell which contains the material under test. Fundamental features of this method are: (1) dielectric characte rization directly in the frequency domain without the use of a Fourier inverse transformation process, as required when Time Domain Reflecto metry (TDR) techniques are used; (2) wide-band measurement in a very s hort time; (3) the need for much less test material than required by c ommercial dielectric probes.