Broadband microwave absorption spectrometer for liquid media

A broadband, continuous-sweep microwave spectrometer has been constructed for measurements of the absorption coefficient of aqueous solutions and other liquid media. The spectrometer makes use of the phase fluctuation optical heterodyne technique, which provides a direct measure of the microwave power deposited in the sample. Consequently, in contrast to the standard dielectrometric techniques that indirectly determine the absorption coefficient via separate measurements of the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant, this spectrometer directly measures the microwave absorption coefficient. Broadband spectra are obtained using a transmission line to couple microwave power into the liquid sample. The absorption spectrum for deionized water in the range 3–20 GHz is presented as an example and shows excellent agreement with calculated values of the absorption coefficient based on previously published dielectric data.