Far- and mid-infrared properties of metal-insulator composite materials. Final technical report, 1 Sep 85-31 Dec 90

Technical Report · Thu Mar 28 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5480421

Devaty, R P

The goal of this research program was to investigate the infrared properties of metal-insulator granular composite materials in order to better understand the relationships between the observed electromagnetic properties, particularly the absorption, and the underlying physical mechanisms. There are several contributions to the observed infrared behavior of a composite material. First is the optical behavior of the individual metallic and insulating grains that make up the material. An important issue is the dependence of these properties on particle size due to boundary effects, quantum size effects, etc. The shapes of the particles is also important. Second is the effect of composition. The electromagnetic properties of a metal and an insulator differ greatly. The infrared properties of the composite material will clearly depend on the volume fraction of metal. The percolation threshold, which specifies the composition for the onset of electrical conduction for a conductor mixed with an insulating host, is a fundamental parameter that characterizes the composition dependence.

• Research Organization: Pittsburgh Univ., PA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
• OSTI ID: 5480421
• Report Number(s): AD-A-234264/0/XAB; CNN: N00014-85-K-0808
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
ABSORPTION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL INSULATORS
GRANULAR MATERIALS
INFRARED RADIATION
INTERMEDIATE INFRARED RADIATION
METALS
PARTICLE SIZE
PARTICLES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SHAPE
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
MATERIALS
RADIATIONS
SIZE
360603* - Materials- Properties