Patent ID: 7239150

Claim:
A method of determining a property of a sample from a response thereof to a field, the method comprising: exciting a resonant device across a contiguous radio frequency band, the radio frequency band extending up to and including a microwave frequency range, so as to produce an electromagnetic field having at least a first microwave frequency resonance mode, the resonant device being configured to interact with a pavement material sample comprising one of a cohesive soil mixture and an asphalt mixture, wherein the exciting step is performed according to a skin depth property of the pavement material sample such that the resonant device interacts with the pavement material sample at a selected depth therein, the resonance device being excited at lower frequencies within the radio frequency band for a greater interaction depth and at higher frequencies within the radio frequency band for a lesser interaction depth with the pavement material sample; comparing a first response of the resonant device to the interaction with the pavement material sample across the radio frequency band, to a second response of the resonant device to an interaction with a control sample across the radio frequency band, so as to determine a frequency response of the pavement material sample to the electromagnetic field across the radio frequency band; and correlating the frequency response of the pavement material sample across the radio frequency band to a material property of the pavement material sample, the material property comprising one of a moisture content and a moisture-less density of the pavement material sample.