Influence of N-doping on dielectric properties of carbon-coated copper nanocomposites in the microwave and terahertz ranges

Carbon-coated Cu nanocomposites (Cu@C NCs) consisting of core-shell nanoparticles and nanorods weresynthesized by arc discharge plasma under an atmosphere of He and H_(2) gas, and the N-doping of themwas achieved by a post-treatment process using ureal as the precursor. The concentration of N in the Ndoped samples varies in the range of 0.62%-2.31 % (in mole), with a transformation from pyrrolic N tographitic N when increasing the relative content of ureal. Dielectric properties of the NCs without or withN-doping in the microwave and THz bands were investigated. The N-doped samples achieve theenhanced dielectric loss in both microwave and THz bands. In the microwave band, dielectric loss wasdominated by interfacial polarization, dipolar polarization, and conduction loss, while in the THz band,plasma resonance, ionic polarization and conduction loss are responsible for the dielectric loss, with astrong absorption characteristic dominated by conductive effect.