Physical basis of dielectric loss

Abstract

THE frequency dependence of the dielectric loss of all kinds of dielectric solids follows a ‘universal law’ ωⁿ⁻¹, with n<1 regardless of their physical and chemical nature. I show that, rather than being the result of superposition of Debye-like loss peaks, this is the manifestation of a universal mechanism for which the ratio of the energy lost per cycle to the energy stored per cycle is independent of frequency. A physical model is proposed which should apply generally to most dielectric materials and which has the required property.