title: A microwave applicator for uniform irradiation by circularly polarized waves in an anechoic chamber.
abstract: Microwave applicators are widely employed for materials heating in scientific research and industrial applications, such as food processing, wood drying, ceramic sintering, chemical synthesis, waste treatment, and insect control. For the majority of microwave applicators, materials are heated in the standing waves of a resonant cavity, which can be highly efficient in energy consumption, but often lacks the field uniformity and controllability required for a scientific study. Here, we report a microwave applicator for rapid heating of small samples by highly uniform irradiation. It features an anechoic chamber, a 24-GHz microwave source, and a linear-to-circular polarization converter. With a rather low energy efficiency, such an applicator functions mainly as a research tool. This paper discusses the significance of its special features and describes the structure, in situ diagnostic tools, calculated and measured field patterns, and a preliminary heating test of the overall system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D008872:Microwaves; D008962:Models, Theoretical