A Novel Class of Dielectrics for Microwave and High-Frequency Applications

Metal-particles of the submicrometer size range are embedded in conventional dielectric materials. The resulting electromagnetic behavior of such a hetero-structured dielectric shows novel properties which are of fundamental importance both for basic physics research and technical applications. Here we report on the presently available dielectric parameters. Depending on the metal particle size, its volume filing factor and the preparation procedure, the complex dielectric function can be taylored for the respective demands: dielectric loss, frequency dependence, temperature dependence as well as additional mechanical and thermal properties can be adjusted in a range having never been achievable before.