Wide-Range Dynamic Complex Dielectric Constant Measurements Using Microprocessor Control Techniques

This paper describes a measurement system operated by a microprocessor for the dynamic measurement of the complex dielectric constant of sample materials over a wide range of dielectric constants. A Q multiplier technique is used for measuring materials which undergo large dynamic increases in dielectric losses. Such increased losses are often encountered when the temperature, pressure, illumination, etc., of a sample dielectric or semiconductor material are altered; or whenever important changes occur in the molecular structure related to changes in the physical state (e.g., liquid-solid) of the test sample. A complete functional diagram of the microprocessor program is presented. For the purpose of these measurements an AIM 65 microprocessor system is expanded to operate with up to 16 I/O ports and 20K bytes of RAM memory.