Heating of a dielectric material by a microwave field is a process which, for purity, should be discussed in detail at molecular level, and the engineer interested in the mechanism in depth is referred to the many texts (e.g. Von Hippel, 1954; Frohlich, 1958; Metaxas and Meredith, 1983) on the subject. Usually, however, it is sufficient to know that there are two primary heating mechanisms, one in which the dielectric material behaves like a poor electrical conductor, having a finite resistivity measurable at DC, and which is usually substantially constant as the frequency extends upwards into the microwave region.

Inspec keywords: conductors (electric); dielectric materials; microwave heating

Other keywords: microwave field; heating mechanism; electrical conductor; molecular level; dielectric materials; microwave region; microwave interaction

Subjects: Process heating