Measurement of the dielectric constants of zinc metallic nanoparticles at various frequencies

The vacuum evaporated metallic nanoparticles mixed with a low loss tangent alumina powder dissolved in paraffin constructed in a cylindrical rod were inserted in the center of a cylindrical microwave cavity. The resonant frequencies and the quality factors measured from a resistance–inductance–capacitance (RLC) meter and a microwave network analyzer were exploited to compute the real and imaginary dielectric constants of zinc metallic nanoparticles at various frequencies from low radio frequency to microwave frequencies. The paraffin molecules are exploited to prevent the space from adsorbing moisture and air, which makes the measurement much accurately and stable. The magnitudes of the real part of the dielectric constants of zinc metallic nanoparticles decrease as the particle size decrease, which is satisfactorily consistent with the prescription of classical free electron Drude model.