Temperature dependence of dielectric relaxation and conductivity of water

The dielectric response of water acting as a load in a resonating microwave cavity was monitored to test for conditions for dielectric breakdown. Macroscopic changes of frequency and width of the resonance were used to monitor the dielectric response of water over the range 273 ⩽ T ⩽ 373 K to test for any structural changes which may lead to dielectric breakdown. Perturbation equations as developed by J. van Bladel, J. C. Slater, and others relate the macroscopic-parameter frequency shift and change in cavity resonance width to the microscopic properties ε" and ε", respectively