Fundamentals and applications of microwave heating of metals.

As the fundamentals of microwave (MW) interaction with metals, boundary conditions of electromagnetic (EM) field on metal surface are discussed, which consider the EM field in the metal surface layer in terms of surface impedance. Experimental report on heating behavior of separated electric (E-) and magnetic (H-) fields of metal particles and films are shown. Temperature peak formation at the first heating curves was observed in both cases, which are discussed considering the microstructural alteration by MW heating. In the last half section, various reports on MW heating of metal are reviewed. They were classified into the major application for sintering and materials fabrication. And also, its usage as a heating aid of glasses and soils, topics on metal hydride and catalytic metal particles are included.