Characterization of Magneto-Dielectric Materials for Microwave Devices

Abstract: There is an increasing interest in using new composite materials in microwave devices, to reduce size and weight while maintaining similar performances. A new promising material group is named magneto-dielectric materials, which have the permittivity and permeability values both larger than one. Compared to the commercially used dielectric materials, magneto-dielectric materials can achieve a larger miniaturization factor with the equivalent properties as dielectric materials. There is a very limited availability of commercial magneto-dielectric materials. A recent addition was from Rogers Corporation with MAGTREX 555, [1], that is available as a printed circuit board laminate. The material is limited to 500 MHz operational frequency due to its increased magnetic and dielectric losses. In this thesis the purpose is to understand the loss mechanisms, characterize and understand the state-of-the-art magneto-dielectric materials at microwaves, and to produce a magneto-dielectric material in the lab to understand the material better. A new material was developed with magneto-dielectric properties. The material was based on a polymer base of polystyrene that serves as a dielectric material and doped with nickel nanoparticles that produce the magnetic properties. The contents of the nanoparticles in the mix is a design variable. Nickel-polystyrene samples with different nickel contents of 0%, 2.3% and 4.5%, were produced in the lab and measured in-house to understand the loss mechanism and RF performance.