Wide range dielectric spectroscopy on glass-forming materials: an experimental overview

TL;DR

This paper reviews broadband dielectric spectroscopy techniques used to study glass-forming materials, highlighting experimental setups and presenting spectra of glycerol to understand dynamic processes across a wide frequency range.

Contribution

It provides an overview of experimental methods for dielectric spectroscopy in glass-forming materials and showcases broadband spectra of glycerol as an example.

Findings

Spectra of glycerol covering over 18 decades of frequency.

Various experimental setups for broadband dielectric spectroscopy.

Insights into dynamic processes near the glass transition.

Abstract

Dielectric spectroscopy is one of the most commonly used techniques for the investigation of the dynamic response of glass-forming materials. The tremendous slow-down of the particle motions when approaching the glass transition and especially the fast processes in glass-forming materials, which have come into the focus of scientific interest recently, make the investigation in a wide frequency range highly desirable. Recently, results from broadband dielectric spectroscopy on glass-forming materials in their liquid and supercooled-liquid state, covering more than 18 decades of frequency have been reported by our group. In the present paper, we give an overview of the various experimental setups and techniques used to collect these spectra. As an example, spectra of the prototypical glass former glycerol are presented.