Experimental study of microwave properties of composites filled with Permalloy powder

Abstract

Frequency dependencies of permittivity and permeability of composites filled with Permalloy powder with various concentrations and shapes of particles have been measured and discussed. The powder particles of various shapes were obtained by mechanical milling of industrial Permalloy powder in organic media. Paraffin wax was used as a matrix for producing the composites. A shape data of the particles was obtained with an electron microscope. The permittivity and permeability were measured in the frequency range of 0.13 to 10 GHz. The shape of the particles changes from sphere to platelet with increase of milling time. The change leads to a shift of the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) frequency and magnetic loss peak. It is shown that for larger particles, a decrease of the Q-factor of the ferromagnetic resonance is observed, which is explained by the strong influence of the skin effect. With increase of the concentration of the Permalloy particles in composite, the magnetic loss peak shifts to low frequencies. When the spherical particles are flattened, the resonance frequency shifts to high frequencies, which indicates that the shift to high frequencies due to the decrease of the skin effect and the change in the magnetic structure is stronger than the shift to the low frequencies by changing the shape and reducing the demagnetization.