Definitive experimental evidence for <i>Microwave Effects</i>: radically new effects of separated E and H fields, such as decrystallization of oxides in seconds

Abstract

Inspite of overwhelming evidence showing that a variety of solid state reactions were radically different when performed in a multimode microwave chamber compared to conventional heating some still question whether there is direct link to the radiation field.The present study has been conducted, for the first time ever, in a single mode TE103 cavity at 2.45 GHz. A large variety of materials have been reacted as ≈1 cm φ 2 mm thick samples within the same cavity, at the positions of the E field and H field maxima. Enormous differences are shown to occur for certain families of common ceramic phases depending only on which of the E or H fields were used.The most extraordinary effects and sharpest differences (noted to date) between reactions at the E and H nodes have been found in ferroic oxides. Phases such as Fe3O4 or binary compounds such as BaFe12O19 are rendered non-crystalline to XRD in a few seconds in the H field, although they show no bulk evidence for melting. The microstructures are unique, showing smooth glasslike regions with regular waves parallel to each other. In the E field node the identical pellet components react completely and form large euhedral crystals of a single phase. The phenomenon of de-crystallization or formation of nano-glasses was confirmed for all the 3d ferrite phases. The magnetic properties of these decrystallized ferro-magnetic phases also show remarkable changes from the original very hard, transforming to very soft, magnets.