Permittivity, also called electric permittivity, is a constant of proportionality that exists

between electric displacement and electric field intensity. This constant is equal to
approximately 8.85 x 10-12 farad per meter (F/m) in free space (a vacuum). In other materials it
can be much different, often substantially greater than the free-space value, which is
symbolized o.

In engineering applications, permittivity is often expressed in relative, rather than in absolute,

terms. If o represents the permittivity of free space (that is, 8.85 x 10-12 F/m) and represents
the permittivity of the substance in question (also specified in farads per meter), then the
relative permittivity, also called the dielectric constant r, is given by:

Various substances have dielectric constants r greater than 1. These substances are generally
called dielectric materials, or simply dielectrics. Commonly used dielectrics include glass,
paper, mica, various ceramics, polyethylene, and certain metal oxides. Dielectrics are used in
capacitors and transmission lines in alternating current (AC), audio frequency (AF), and radio
frequency (RF) applications.

he dielectric constant is the ratio of the permittivity of a substance to the permittivity of free
space. It is an expression of the extent to which a material concentrates electric flux, and is the
electrical equivalent of relative magnetic permeability.

The conventional open-wire transmission lines are not suitable for microwave transmission, as the radiation
losses would be high. At Microwave frequencies, the transmission lines employed can be broadly classified
into three types. They are
Multi conductor lines
o Co-axial lines
o Strip lines
o Micro strip lines
o Slot lines
o Coplanar lines, etc.
Single conductor lines (Waveguides)
o Rectangular waveguides
o Circular waveguides
o Elliptical waveguides
o Single-ridged waveguides
o Double-ridged waveguides, etc.
Open boundary structures
o Di-electric rods
o Open waveguides, etc

A Parallel Strip line is similar to a two conductor transmission line. It can support quasi
TEM mode.
A Coplanar strip line is formed by two conducting strips with one strip grounded, both
being placed on the same substrate surface, for convenient connections.

A wave has both electric and magnetic fields. All transverse components of electric and
magnetic fields are determined from the axial components of electric and magnetic field,
in the z direction. This allows mode formations, such as TE, TM, TEM and Hybrid in
microwaves. Let us have a look at the types of modes.
The direction of the electric and the magnetic field components along three mutually
perpendicular directions x, y, and z are as shown in the following figure.
Types ofModes
The modes of propagation of microwaves are -
TEM (Transverse Electromagnetic Wave)
In this mode, both the electric and magnetic fields are purely transverse to the direction
of propagation. There are no components in Z direction.

Permittivity is a property which is associated with how much electrical charge a material can store in a given
volume. The units of permittivity are Farads/meter. The Farad is named after Michael Faraday. Permittivity is what
controls the value of a capacitor, beyond its physical dimensions.

Dielectric, insulating material or a very poor conductor of electric current. When dielectrics are
placed in an electric field, practically no current flows in them because, unlike metals, they have no
loosely bound, or free, electrons that may drift through the material. Instead, electric polarization
occurs.Dielectric constant, property of an electrical insulating material (a dielectric) equal to the
ratio of the capacitance of a capacitor filled with the given material to the capacitance of an identical
capacitor in a vacuum without the dielectricmaterial. ... The dielectric constant is a number
without dimensions. The term insulator is generally used to indicate electrical obstruction while
the term dielectric is used to indicate the energy storing capacity of the material (by means of
polarization). A common example of a dielectric is the
electrically insulating material between the metallic plates of a capacitor.

The terms permittivity and dielectric constant are essentially the same for most purposes, although there are
instances where the different terms do have very specific meanings.
It is that property of a dielectric material that determines how much electrostatic energy can be stored per unit of
volume when unit voltage is applied, and as a result it is of great importance for capacitors and capacitance
calculations and the like.
In general permittivity uses the Greek letter epsilon as its symbol: .

The relative permittivity of a material is its (absolute) permittivityexpressed as a ratio relative to the permittivity
of vacuum.

The permittivity of a medium is expressed as the product of the dielectric constant and the free space permittivity: