A Simplified Dielectric Material Characterization Algorithm for Both Liquids and Solids

A simplified dielectric material characterization technique that combines an equivalent impedance algorithm and a general “line-line” trace method is introduced. The technique is applicable to every type of transmission lines. Due to the convenient fabrication and the allowance of integration with various polymers, coplanar waveguide transmission lines integrated with an SU-8 microfluidic channel is primarily used in this study. The conformal mapping method, an efficient and straightforward way, is introduced to build the foundation of dielectric material characterization and to optimize the sensor design. A validation measurement of the proposed technique is performed on deionized water, and show valuable consistency with previous reliable data presented in the literature. Next, the technique is applied on solid SU-8 characterization with four groups of on-wafer measurements. SU-8 measurement results and the related uncertainty analysis are demonstrated subsequently.