Dielectric Properties of Common Building Materials for Ultrawideband Propagation Studies [Measurements Corner]

Signal propagation is affected by the characteristics of the materials in the medium. Therefore, information about material properties is of paramount importance when radio propagation is investigated. In this article, the measured complex relative permittivity of 20 common materials in indoor environments (including plastics, wood and woodbased materials, glass, gypsum plaster and plasterboard, brick, and concrete) across the frequency band of 0.2-67 GHz is shown. The dielectric properties are measured by using two open-ended coaxial probes. The single-pole Cole-Cole model is employed for fitting the measured data since most of the materials follow it. Moreover, fitting parameters for the multipole Debye model, which can be used instead of the Cole-Cole [it is more appropriate for finite-distance, timedomain (FDTD) applications], are given. Thus, an easy way for obtaining the data is provided, which can be helpful when wideband propagation is considered.