Part I Dielectric Materials

Definition: is the material that does not conduct electricity

readily, i.e., an insulator

Applications: range from power engineering to

microelectronics

Lecture Structure
Review of basic electrostatic theory
Capacitor
Complex permittivity
Polarisation processes
Electrets

Basic Electrostatic Theory

Coulomb's law
Experiments on electrically-charged bodies yield the
following observations
-Like charges repel and opposite charges attract each
other;
-The force between the charges is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them
dependent on the medium in which they are
embedded
acts along the line joining the charges
proportional to the product of the charge magnitudes.

F=k

Q1Q2
r

r0 =

1
4 r o

Q1Q2
r

r0

F= force of one charge on the other, newtons (N)

Q1 and Q2 = charge quantities, coulombs (C)
r= distance between charges, metres (m)
k=constant of proportionality
r= relative permittivity of the dielectric
0=8.85x10-12F/m, permittivity of free space or vacuum

Electric field
An electric field is region where forces act
The resulting force per unit charge is defined as
the electric field intensity E

F
E=
=
Q2

Q1

4 r o r 2

r0

NC

An equivalent unit for the electric field intensity is

the volt per metre (Vm-1)
The total or resultant electric field at a point is
the vector sum of the individual component
fields at the point.

Electric flux density

The electric field --forces on charge
-- magnitude of the
charges
For dielectric materials, the electric flux
density with a symbol D is defined as

D = o r E

Electric potential and potential difference

Electric field is inconvenient to work with
(vector).
Any system of charges at rest is unstable.
The inverse square law causes charges of
unlike sign to collide and charges of like sign
to separate unless the charges are held in
position by force which are not electrostatic.
Work has to be done to assemble systems of
charges and this work can be recovered
when they are released.
The systems possess potential energy
electric potential.

We often are interested in the change of electric

potentialelectric potential difference.
It is defined as the work done when unit positive
charge is moved from one point to the other.
Consider the figure
The force on the charge is E.
dl
+
The work done on the charge
unit
by the external force when it
charge
is moved through a small distance dl is the product of
the external force and the distance moved in the
direction of that force, ie
dV = E dl

The potential difference between two points A

and B can be calculated by integrating along a
suitable path between them.
B

VB VA = E dl = E cosdl

The potential difference depends only on the

starting and finishing points, not on the path
which taken between them.
Consider a charge is moved from A to B in the
field of another charge Q at O

The potential difference from

a small movement of dl of a
A
unit charge at P is
dV = E dl =

Therefore

r dl

VB VA = E dl =
A

Q
4 0 r

dr =
2

r
rA

Q
4 0 r

E
P dl

4 0

rB

Q
B

Q
4 0 r

r dl

1 1
)
rB rA

Using the principle of superposition the

conclusion can be extended to the field of any
combination of charge.

Capacitor
Definition: a device for storing electric charge and, hence,
electric energy. It consists of two conductors separated by an
insulating medium.

Capacitance is defined as the ratio of the stored

charge to the voltage applied.

Q
C =
V
Its unit is Coulombs/Volt=farads.
The capacitance is independent of the charge and
voltage. Thus, an increase in applied voltage
increases the charge stored, but the ration of charge
to voltage remains the same.

Energy stored in a capacitor

It requires work to charge a capacitor energy is stored by
a charged capacitor.
Consider a capacitor of capacitance C charged to a
potential difference V (Q=CV)
The potential is work per charge. In terms of infinitesimals it
is the infinitesimal work dW per infinitesimal charge dq, i.e.

dW
V =
dq
Therefore, the energy stored in a capacitor:
Q

q
1Q
1
1
2
W = vdq = dq =
= CV = QV
C
2 C 2
2
0
0

Imperfect dielectrics & Complex

permittivity
Ideal dielectric no loss
I=jC0
I

V
C0

Defects and impurities lead to various

charge carriers in dielectrics. Under the
influence of electric field, current flows
through the dielectrics

IR

IC

C = * C0

I C = ' C0V

I = j C V
= j C V
0

I R = " C0V

I = j * C 0V = I R + jI C
= " C 0V + j ' C 0V
= j ( ' j " ) C 0V

* = ' j "
* is called complex permittivity
From the equivalent circuit:

C p = 'C0

1
Rp =
" C0

The physical meaning of complex permittivity

Real part is the same as permittivity
Imaginary part represents the resistance in
parallel with capacitor
is an important angle. In practice, it often
appears in terms of tan

I R " C0V "

=
=
tan =
I C ' C0V '

Polarisation

+Q0

C0

+
+

+
+

-Q0
i(t)

Dielectric

What happens when an insulating material is

inserted between the plates of a capacitor?
Experimental evidence
+
+
+
+

+Q

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

V
(a)

(b)

(c)

-Q

According to C = VQ , the capacitance has been

increased due to the insertion of a dielectric
between the plates.
Why?
Electrons in an insulator are bound to the
atoms and are not free to wander through the
material under the action of an electric field.
_
E=0

E0

-q
- ----------- - - - - - - - - -

This leads to dipole

oriented along the
electric field.
++++++++++
Inside the material many
+++++++++++
atoms overlap no noticeable +q
effect (positive and negative cancel each
other) At the edges of the material surface
layers of charge appear.
Much the same as if there were free charges
in the material, but the amount of surface
charge is always less in an insulating
material than in a conductor.

Let Q be the charge on the metal plates and q

the induced charge on the insulators surface
The electric field between the
S
+Q
-q
plates is now due to Q and q.
Q q
E =
0S

E=?

Qq
p.d. is V = Edl =
d
0S
capacitance C = Q =
Q
r =
Qq

+q
-Q

0S
Q 0S
= r
Qq d
d

is called the relative permittivity

of the insulating material

q is proportional to the applied field E, i.e.

qE
E is proportional to E(Q-q)

q = e (Q q )

e is called the electric susceptibility which is a

constant

Q Qq + q
q
r =
=
=1 +
= 1 + e > 1
Qq
Qq
Qq
The capacitance is increased by inserting an
insulating material

The product of 0 and r is called the

absolute permittivity, represented by

= r 0

q is bound to atoms (cant move within the

material) -- bound charge
Q comes from power source -- free charge
The total charge (Q-q) contributes to E
From the definition of D,
D
Q
= 0 r = 0
E
Qq
(Q-q) is proportional to E
D only depends on the free charge Q

Imagine that the electric flux density in a

dielectric is due to two courses:
(i) the flux density set up by an applied field
and
(ii) the polarisation of the dielectric resulting
from the electric field
Therefore

D = 0E + P

P = D 0 E = r 0 E 0 E = 0 ( r 1) E
Polarisation is related to permittivity of the
dielectric.

Mechanisms of polarisation
Permittivity is a macroscopic description of the
dielectric properties. How is it linked with
atomic and molecular processes taken place
in the dielectric?
There are four polarisation mechanisms
responsible for frequency characteristics of
and and they are
(i) electronic (optical)
(ii) ionic
(iii) dipolar (orientational) and
(iv) interfacial

Dipole and dipole moment

Dipole and dipole moment
-q

+q

p ( m ) = qd
d

Polarisation
1
P=
(p 1 + p 2 + + p N ) = Np
vol

PolarisationMicroscopic Level
A polarised atom of dielectric material
based on Classical Atom Model
E0

E=0

Electron cloud

m=ed
d

The dipole moment of the atom

m = E l
-- the polarisability and El the local
field
If there are n polarisable atoms per unit
volume then the polarisation

P = nE l

Since the above dipole moment is

created under the influence of an
electric field it is called the induced
dipole moment.
Many molecules contain dipole
moments for examples
H
H

Cl
H

Electronic polarisation (e)

When a field is applied to an atom electron
clouds are displaced slightly with respect to
the positive charge
E0

E=0

Electron cloud

m=ed
d

The induced dipole moment

m = e El
e-- the electronic polarisabilityd
If there are n polarisable atoms per unit
volume then the polarisation

P = n e El

Ionic polarisation (i)

This type of polarisation occurs in ionic
crystals such NaCl, KCl and so forth.
The ionic crystal has distinctly identifiable ions
located at well-defined lattice sites. Each pair
of oppositely charged neighbouring ions has a
dipole moment.

In the absence of an electric field, the solid has no

net polarisation as the dipole moments of equal
magnitude are lined up head to head and tail to
tail, so that the net dipole moment is zero.

pnet = p+ p = 0
In the presence of a field along the x direction, Clions pushed in x direction and the Na+ ions in +x
direction about their equilibrium positions.
Consequently, p+ increases and p- decreases.

pnet = p+ p > 0

Based on electronic polarisation, we can

write

P = Ni i El
Ni number of ion pairs/vol
i ionic polarisiability

Dipolar polarisation (d)

Certain molecules posses permanent dipole
moments, such as HCl and H2O.
In the absence of electric field, these dipoles
are randomly oriented due to thermal agitation.
Pnet = 0
When a field E is applied, E tries to align the
dipoles parallel to itsself.
Pnet > 0

If all the molecules were simply rotated and

aligned with the E, the polarisation of the
material would be
Pnet = Np0
N number of molecules/vol.
p0 permanent dipole moment of molecule
Due to their thermal energy, the molecules
move around randomly and collide with each
other which destroy the dipole alignments.
The higher the temperature, the lower the
polarisation P.

P = N d p0

Interfacial polarisation (m-w)

All materials will have defects (lattice vacancies,
impurity ions and free electrons). Under the
influence of the applied field, migration will occur

Frequency Dependence
Any or all of the mechanisms of polarisation may be
operative in any material, i.e.

total=e+i+d+m-w
How identify the important ones for a given
material?
Polarisation will tend to follow direction of the field.
AC field a continuous reversal of polarisation in
sympathy with the field.
What happens if frequency increases?

Example---polar dipoles
As frequency increases, the inertia of dipoles
will make it more and more difficult for the
dipoles to follow the field, resulting in a lag of
the polarisation behind the field.
This appears as an apparent reduction in
permittivity of the material.
At a critical frequency, dipoles will be unable
to follow the field virtually no polarisation of
the dielectric

The process is termed as relaxation and the

frequency of transition is called relaxation
frequency.
Different polarisation mechanisms will have
different relaxation frequencies!

Electrets
Definition: Electrets are quasi-permanently
charged dielectrics, i.e. dielectrics whose charge
arrangement persists much longer than the time
period over which it is studied.

Materials used for electrets

(i) Wax
(ii) Polymers
--Highly insulating substances e.g.
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE),
Fluoroethylene-propylene (FEP)
--Polar substances e.g.
Polyvinylidene flouride (PVDF)

Forming methods
Thermal method
P o ly m e r ( m e ta lis e d
o r n o n - m e ta lis e d

T and V

H e a tin g
c h a m b e r
V o lta g e p ro file

T e m p e ra tu re
p ro file

tim e

Corona discharge method

Needle
electrode
Wire mesh

polymer

metalisation

Liquid contact method

Cloth
electrode
(wet)
motion

polymer

metalisation

Electron beam method

Electron source
Electron beam

Scanning or
defocusing
Vacuum
chamber

polymer

metalisation

Charge measurement methods

Capacitive probe method

Electrostatic voltmeters

 In this voltage following device, the output of the

integrator drives a high voltage amplifier circuit to
replicate the voltage on the test surface. The
amplified voltage is then applied to the sensor thus
nullifying the electric field between the tested
surface and the sensing electrode. Potential on the
electrode follows the potential on the surface. In
this case there is no threat of the eventual discharge
between the probe and the surface under test, even
at close spacing. This ability of following the voltage
makes the electrostatic voltmeter measurement
independent of the distance D0 at least within a
certain range of D0. If the span between the surface
and sensor is too big, the probe becomes
influenced by other electric fields present in the
vicinity.
The charge stability is reflected by the change in
surface potential of the sample under test.

 Pulsed electroacoustic method

Vp(t)
transducer

Vdc

Sample
p(t)

Vs(t)
electrode
Detecting
electrode

2
(x)

Vs(t)

Fig.3 Schematic diagram of PEA system

Electret Applications
1 Transducer--Microphone

Advantages
(i) Compact and light weight
(ii) Insensitive to mechanical vibration &
shock
(iii) Insensitive to electromagnetic pickup

2 Filters

Advantages
(i) Spread into a broad web
(ii) Able to capture both charged or neutral
particles
(iii) Capable of capturing different sizes of
particles