I am working on a setup for the characterization of liquids in the millimetre band (up to 100 GHz) of the spectrum using the Nicolson-Ross-Weir (NRW) waveguide method. As such, I need to build a cuvette to contain the sample. Which would be a suitable material for such cuvette?. Ideally, the material should be as transparent as possible to keep the dynamic range of the measurement system as high as possible.
Unless I have misunderstood you about transparency, ptfe should be a good material.
Other plastics such as polypropylene or polystyrene may also be good.
Malcolm is correct. I recommend acrylic (nondispersive permittivity of about 2.4) or teflon (nondispersive permittivity of about 2). If you use those materials, you'll need to de-embed. See below for a reference.
M. J. Havrilla and D. P. Nyquist, "Electromagnetic characterization of layered materials via direct and de-embed methods," in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 158-163, Feb. 2006. doi: 10.1109/TIM.2005.861249 Abstract: Electromagnetic-material characterization is the process of determining the permittivity and permeability of matter. One of the predominant schemes utilized for computing these constitutive parameters is the Nicolson-Ross-Weir (NRW) algorithm. In this particular technique, the sample under measurement is assumed to be linear, homogeneous, isotropic (i.e., simple medium), and is comprised of a single-layer planar material. However, samples are frequently attached to known substrate materials in order to facilitate measurement; thus, the standard NRW technique cannot be directly employed. This paper presents two schemes, the direct and de-embed methods, for accommodating multilayered-material-characterization measurements. Accuracy is discussed using an uncertainty analysis. In addition, it is shown that the direct method has a distinct advantage over the de-embed method if sample homogeneity is to be monitored. keywords: {dielectric materials;magnetic permeability measurement;materials testing;permittivity measurement;multilayers;rectangular waveguides;S-parameters;network analysers;microwave measurement;layered materials;de-embed methods;electromagnetic-material characterization;permittivity determination;permeability determination;Nicolson-Ross-Weir algorithm;homogeneous isotropic material;single-layer planar material;substrate materials;multilayered material characterization;uncertainty analysis;S-parameters;waveguide measurements;wave-transmission matrices;Electromagnetic waveguides;Scattering parameters;Permittivity measurement;Electromagnetic measurements;Magnetic materials;Permeability measurement;Dielectric materials;Monitoring;Electromagnetic analysis;Planar waveguides;electromagnetic-material characterization;permeability;permittivity;planar-layered media;uncertainty analysis;waveguide measurements;wave-transmission matrices}, URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1583876&isnumber=33429
TYDEX TPX and ZEONOR are both manufactured for the THz region but both before quite well in the region you are looking at. The curves for which can be found here: http://www.tydexoptics.com/images/products/zeonex-tpx.jpg.
In addition, as mentioned by a few others, HDPE, TOPAS, and teflon should also perform quite well in this region.
Thanks everyone!
Polysterene and teflon seem good options :-)
A radiolucent material is one that does not change the amplitude and phase of the transmitted wave. Therefore, in my opinion, you should pay attention to the foam plastic. Moreover, this material in this range is used for the manufacture of antenna fairings.