What is Impedance and Dielectric Spectroscopy: Part 1

  • Online

In this tutorial, the technique of impedance and dielectric spectroscopy will be described in the simplest possible terms.  The recording has been divided into two parts.  It will begin by describing the expected responses for the real and imaginary impedance of a wide range of material and device types.   Then the conversion to three other formalisms known as admittance, electric modulus and permittivity will be used to demonstrate the detailed information that is often hidden inside of the partially analyzed data.  Examples will be provided that will help not only understand the physical processes that are happening inside of the material/device but also develop an understanding of how to control the outcome.  Examples ranging from materials used in insulating layers in integrated circuits and packaging materials to highly conducting materials used in solar cells and batteries will be provided.  It will be shown that it is possible to relate the spectra obtained to the presence of certain key responses: charge storage, electronic conduction, surface adsorption, switching phenomena and many others.  Complementary techniques that are used to corroborate the physical assignments will also be included.   The tutorial will end with examples that demonstrate that this technique is exceptionally good for establishing quality control in a production environment and/or  to assess service life of electronic and non-electronic components in a non-destructive way.

Instructor

Dr. Rosario A. Gerhardt

Dr. Rosario A. Gerhardt is a full professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she has been on the faculty since 1991.  In addition to being a member of IEEE, she is also a member of MRS, ACers, ASNT , AAAS and Sigma Xi.  In 2017, she was awarded the ACerS Friedberg Lecture Award which recognized her teaching, research and patent contributions.  Her research is focused on developing an understanding of the relationships between the structure of materials and devices and their electromagnetic response.  Her work has appeared on many different journals including IEEE and physics journals.  She is currently writing a textbook on the technique of impedance and dielectric spectroscopy to be published by John Wiley & Sons. The textbook is based on her lecture notes for the graduate class that she has developed over the last 30 years and covers all types and forms of materials and devices.  She was invited to compete for the title of Distinguished Lecturer at the 2018 I2TMC held in Houston.  She has also presented tutorial lectures at different meetings and most recently at the Electronic Materials Applications Conference held in Orlando in January 2019 entitled “'Impedance spectroscopy: basics, challenges and opportunities”.  The videos were recorded at the I2MTC conference held in Auckland, New Zealand in May 2019.

Publication Year: 2020


  • Course Provider: Instrumentation and Measurement
  • Course Number: IMS-VT04
  • Duration (Hours): 1
  • Credits: 0.1 CEU/ 1 PDH