Dielectric materials-or, as they are also called, dielectrics-are such media that do not conduct electricity. In the present text a definition so narrow is not strictly followed but certainly the most important property of dielectric materials in our discussion is their ability to store, not conduct, electrical energy. A measure for this property is the permittivity or dielectric constant of the material. In fact, permittivity is only a higher-level invention to calculate approximatively the electric response of matter. Underneath it a great amount of detailed physics is hidden. Let us try to start the discussion of dielectric materials with a look at the various polarisation mechanisms.

Inspec keywords: dielectric materials; permittivity

Other keywords: electric response; dielectric constant; permittivity; dielectric materials

Subjects: Dielectric materials and properties