Microwave characterization of vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotube arrays

Vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotube (VACNT) films have been characterized by rectangular waveguide measurements. The complex scattering parameters (S-parameters) are measured by a vector network analyzer at X-band frequencies. The effective complex permittivity and permeability of the VACNT films have been extracted. The extracted parameters are verified by full wave simulations and very good agreement has been obtained. The results of the systematic error analysis are presented and the errors are within the acceptable range. The performance of VACNT films as an absorber is examined, and comparison with the conventional carbon loaded materials shows that a 90% size reduction is possible while maintaining the same absorption level. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3592263]