Effective dielectric response of a shape-distributed particle system

To calculate the effective dielectric response of a dilute composite, a generalization of the Maxwell Garnett theory for small nonspherical particles distributed in shape is proposed. Various types of distribution function are analysed and the applicability of the simplest (steplike) distribution is discussed. It is shown that the use of the steplike distribution is more valid for particles having a higher imaginary part of the permittivity in the actual region. Besides, an alternative approach to the problem based on the spectral representation is also considered. As an illustration, the effective dielectric response of a system of semiconductor (SiC) and metal (Al) ellipsoidal particles is calculated.