Interpretation of non-ideal dielectric plots

Abstract

A semi-circular complex plane plot of permittivity corresponds to an ideal Debye dielectric, while that of impedance represents a parallel combination of a conductance and an ideal capacitor. Deviations from such semi-circular plots are normally observed in both situations and there is a tendency to interpret them in terms of distributions of relaxation times (DRT). As an interpretation of the permittivity response this may or may not be physically justified in any particular case, but there is no fundamental objection to its use for homogeneous media, since it implies the coexistence in the medium ofparallel processes. On the other hand, the use of this approach in the interpretation of non-ideal complex impedance plots is inherently wrong in application to homogeneous media.