Dielectric strength

In physics, the term dielectric strength has the following and the electrodes with which the electric eld is apmeanings:
plied, as well as the rate of increase at which the electric
eld is applied. Because dielectric materials usually con Of an insulating material, the maximum electric tain minute defects, the practical dielectric strength will
eld that a pure material can withstand under ideal be a fraction of the intrinsic dielectric strength of an
conditions without breaking down (i.e., without ex- ideal, defect-free, material. Dielectric lms tend to exhibit greater dielectric strength than thicker samples of
periencing failure of its insulating properties).
the same material. For instance, the dielectric strength
For a specic conguration of dielectric material of silicon dioxide lms of a few hundred nm to a few m
and electrodes, the minimum applied electric eld thick is approximately 0.5GV/m.[2] However very thin
(i.e., the applied voltage divided by electrode sepa- layers (below, say, 100 nm) become partially conductive
because of electron tunneling. Multiple layers of thin diration distance) that results in breakdown.
electric lms are used where maximum practical dielecThe theoretical dielectric strength of a material is an in- tric strength is required, such as high voltage capacitors
trinsic property of the bulk material and is independent and pulse transformers. Since the dielectric strength of
of the conguration of the material or the electrodes gases varies depending on the shape and conguration of
with which the eld is applied. This intrinsic dielec- the electrodes, it is usually measured as a fraction of the
tric strength corresponds to what would be measured us- dielectric strength of Nitrogen gas.
ing pure materials under ideal laboratory conditions. At
breakdown, the electric eld frees bound electrons. If the
applied electric eld is suciently high, free electrons
from background radiation may become accelerated to
velocities that can liberate additional electrons during collisions with neutral atoms or molecules in a process called
avalanche breakdown. Breakdown occurs quite abruptly
(typically in nanoseconds), resulting in the formation of
an electrically conductive path and a disruptive discharge
through the material. For solid materials, a breakdown
event severely degrades, or even destroys, its insulating
capability.

Dielectric strength (in MV/m, or 106 Volt/meter) of various common materials:

2 Units
In SI, the unit of dielectric strength is volts per meter
(V/m). It is also common to see related units such as volts
per centimeter (V/cm), megavolts per meter (MV/m),
and so on.
In United States customary units, dielectric strength is often specied in volts per mil (a mil is 1/1000 inch).[14]
The conversion is:

Factors aecting apparent dielectric strength

it decreases with increased sample thickness.[1] (see
defects below)

1V/m = 2.54 105 V/mil

it decreases with increased operating temperature.

it decreases with increased frequency.

1V/mil = 3.94 104 V/m

for gases (e.g. nitrogen, sulfur hexauoride) it normally decreases with increased humidity.

3 See also

for air, dielectric strength increases slightly as humidity increases

Breakdown voltage
Relative permittivity

Breakdown eld strength

Rotational Brownian motion

Paschens law - variation of Dielectric strength of
gas related to pressure

The eld strength at which breakdown occurs depends

on the respective geometries of the dielectric (insulator)
1

References

[1] http://usa.dupontteijinfilms.com/informationcenter/
downloads/Electrical_Properties.pdf
[2] Electrical insulation properties of sputter-deposited
SiO2 , Si3 N4 and Al2 O3 lms at room temperature and
400 C - Bartzsch - 2009 - physica status solidi (a) - Wiley Online Library. Onlinelibrary.wiley.com. 2009-0121. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
[3] CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
[4] http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/AliceHong.shtml
[5] 3.5.1 Electrical Breakdown and Failure. Tf.uni-kiel.de.
Retrieved 2011-11-08.
[6] Dielectric Strength of Polyethylene.
book.com. Retrieved 2011-11-08.

Hypertext-

[7] http://www.htee.tu-bs.de/forschung/
veroeffentlichungen/giere2002.pdf
[8] Fused silica datapage
[9] Dielectric Strength of Waxed Paper.
book.com. Retrieved 2011-11-08.

Hypertext-

[10] Glenn Elert. Dielectrics - The Physics Hypertextbook.

Physics.info. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
[11] Electronic
properties
of
diamond
el.angstrom.uu.se. Retrieved 2013-08-10.

(PDF).

[12] Moazzami, Reza; Chenming Hu; William H. Shepherd (September 1992).

Electrical Characteristics
of Ferroelectric PZT Thin Films for DRAM Applications (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 39 (9): 2044. Bibcode:1992ITED...39.2044M.
doi:10.1109/16.155876.
[13] B. Andersen, E. Ringgaard, T. Bove, A. Albareda, and
R. Prez (2000). Performance of Piezoelectric Ceramic
Multilayer Components Based on Hard and Soft PZT
(PDF). Proceedings of Actuator 2000: 419422.
[14] For one of many examples, see Polyimides: materials, processing and applications, by A.J. Kirby, google books link

This article incorporates public domain material

from the General Services Administration document
Federal Standard 1037C (in support of MIL-STD188).

External links
Dielectric Strength of Air (with multiple references)
Dielectric Strength and Insulation Materials of Mineral Insulated Cable

EXTERNAL LINKS

Article The maximum dielectric strength of thin

silicon oxide lms from IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
Properties of silicon dioxide and silicon nitride,
from semiconductorglossary.com

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

Dielectric strength Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectric_strength?oldid=695023409 Contributors: Imran, Kragen, Leigh,

Samw, Smack, Robbot, Giftlite, Rchandra, ELApro, Discospinster, R6144, Bert Hickman, Merenta, Tony Sidaway, Mindmatrix, Marudubshinki, Grammarbot, YurikBot, Anomalocaris, Bota47, Light current, Sbyrnes321, SmackBot, Oli Filth, Prmacn, Dameyawn, Eastlaw,
Mikiemike, Electron9, Waerloeg, Mollwollfumble, Nmanicke, MartinBot, Glmory, JHertzberg, Zzzzort, Jasondet, Editore99, Blade100,
ClueBot, Ferred, M.O.X, Elcap, Ninja247, Addbot, Download, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Hrneo, Efa, Materialscientist, LouriePieterse, UlmPhysiker, Cresix, FrescoBot, Pinethicket, MastiBot, Joannacooper, Trappist the monk, ZroBot, , Fizicist, Erianna, Dsmithsmithy, CocuBot, Wosch21149, Pgijsenb, Bibcode Bot, Mark Arsten, Monkbot and Anonymous: 61

6.2

Images

6.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0