Module V Dielectric Materials Introduction: Polarization and dielectric constant, dielectric susceptibility, Equation of electric field inside dielectrics,

Claussius and Mossotti Relation, Polarization Mechanism: Ionic, Electronic and Orientation, Temperature and frequency dependence of dielectric constant. Dielectric Losses, Dielectric Breakdown: Types: Dielectric material as electrical insulators, Examples and Problems.
Introduction Dielectrics or insulators are the materials which contain no free electrons, so that no current can flow through them. As a result the electrical conductivity of a dielectric is poor and for an ideal dielectric, it is zero. According to band theory of solids a dielectric is a material in which the energy band gap between valence and conduction band is more than 3 eV. Glass, ceramic, polymers, wood, paper etc. are the examples of it. Their resistivity ranges from 10 10 to 10 20 ohm meter. Dielectric Constant: Faraday discovered that the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is increased when a dielectric material is introduced between the plates. The ratio of permittivity of the dielectric to that of the free space is known as dielectric constant (K) or relative permittivity ( r ). K r 0 It is a dimensionless quantity and is always greater than unity. It is independent of size and shape of the material. It can be defined in following ways: 1. The ratio of the capacitance of a capacitor with dielectric between the plates to that without dielectric between the plates is the dielectric constant. K = C/C0, where C is the capacitance with dielectric and C0 is the capacitance with free space between the plates. 2. According to Coulombs law, the force between two charges q1 and q2 in free space is given by
F0 1 q1q 2 4 0 r 2
1 q1q 2 4 r 2

When the charges are placed in a dielectric medium the force between them is given by
F

F0 0 F Thus the dielectric constant may be defined as the ratio of the force between two charges in free space to the force between two charges in the dielectric medium
Thus K r Polar and Non-polar Dielectric materials: Non-polar Dielectric materials: A molecule or an atom consists of positive and negative charges (i.e. nuclei and electrons). The two charges are always equal in magnitude. All the positive charge in a molecule can be supposed to be centered at one point and all the negative charges at another point. These points are called centers of positive and negative charge.

A molecule in which the centres of gravity of positive and negative charges coincide and thus for which the inherent dipole moment is zero is called a nonpolar molecule. Most of the symmetric molecules such as H 2 , N 2 , O 2 , Cl 2 , CH 4 , C 6 H 6 etc are nonpolar molecules.

Polar Dielectric materials :

If the centers of positive and negative charge do not coincide, the molecule will possess a permanent dipole moment. Such molecules are called polar molecules and the material is said to be a polar dielectric. The unsymmetric molecules such as N 2 O, H 2 O, NH 3 , C 2 H 5 Cl are polar molecules.

Dielectric in an Electric Field and Polarization :

When a non-polar dielectric is kept in an external electric field, positive and negative electric charges within it undergo a relative shift on opposite directions. Electric field distorts the negative cloud of electrons around positive atomic nuclei in a direction opposite to the field. This slight separation of charge makes one side of the atom somewhat positive and the opposite side somewhat negative creating dipoles. Such dipoles are called induced dipoles and the dielectric is said to be polarized. In case of polar molecules, permanent dipoles are present; however, they are generally oriented randomly due to thermal agitation, and thus there is no net dipole moment in absence of an electric field (See Fig. 2a). When an electric field is applied, a torque is exerted on the dipoles causing them to partially align with the field. The dipoles are oriented by rotation and aligned in the direction of the electric field. This gives rise to a net magnetic moment. Thus in the presence of an external electric field, a dielectric develops a net dipole moment. This phenomenon is called as dielectric polarization. The net dipole moment developed per unit volume is known as Polarization (P). Consider a rectangular block of the polarized dielectric of length l and uniform cross sectional area A. Let the surface charge densities of fictitious charges appearing at the end faces be +p and -p. The charge induced on each face = p A Total induced electric dipole moment = p A l Total induced electric dipole moment per unit volume = p A l/Al = p Polarisation (P) = p

Polarisation is also defined as the surface density of charge appearing at faces perpendicular to the direction of applied field. Clearly, the unit of polarization is Coulomb/metre2 or C/m2. The polarization of material is proportional to electric field E P 0e E where 0 is the permittivity of free space (8.85 10-12 C2/Nm2) and e is known as the dielectric susceptibility of the material. Dielectric susceptibility is dimensionless. The value of e depends on the microscopic structure of the dielectric and also on external conditions such as temperature. The susceptibility of polar dielectrics depends on temperature while for non polar dielectrics it is independent of temperature.

Polarizability
Consider an electrically neutral slab of an isotropic dielectric in a uniform electric field E. Since no charge is free in the dielectric all are bound electrons which are induced in this external electric field. The action of electric field is to displace the positive charges in the direction of field and negative in the opposite direction of field. Each atom or molecule of dielectric then acquires an electric dipole moment parallel to the direction of field. This induced dipole moment is proportional to the field. p = E The constant of proportionality is called atomic polarizability. If there are n is the number of dipoles (atoms) per unit volume, the polarization of material P becomes P=np = nE Dielectric Constant, K= 1+e

Types of Polarization
When a dielectric material is subjected to an electric field, the displacement of charge particles takes place. This displacement of charge particles results in the formation of electric dipole moment in atoms, ions or in molecules of material which polarize the material. There are three important types of polarization. These are: (1) Electronic Polarization (2) Ionic Polarization (3) Orientation Polarization

(1) Electronic Polarization: This occurs due to displacement of positive and negative
charges in a dielectric material, when an external electric field is applied. As the centers of positive and negative charges are separated, dipole moment is created in each atom. This induced dipole moment is proportional to the field. Hence pe= e E The constant of proportionality

e is called electronic polarizability. If there are n atoms per unit volume in the dielectric, then the polarization is given by P = n e E The electronic polarizability is independent of temperature. (2) Ionic Polarization: This type of polarization occurs only in ionic dielectrics and is due to displacement of ions of opposite signs as shown below. Consider, for simplicity a NaCl

molecule it is composed of Na ions and Cl ions. When an electric field is applied to the molecule the sodium and chlorine atoms are displaced in opposite directions until ionic forces stop the process, thus increasing the dipole moment. The induced dipole moment is proportional to the applied field and an ionic polarizability i is introduced to account for the increase, giving pi i E For most of the materials, the ionic polarizability is less than the electronic polarizability. The ionic polarization is given by Pi n i E This type of polarization is insensitive to temperature.

(3) Orientational Polarization: This type of polarization only occurs in polar substances.

The existence of a permanent moment is purely a matter of molecular geometry. The permanent dipoles in such materials can rotate about their axis of symmetry to align with an applied field, which exerts a torque on them. This additional polarization effect is accounted by introducing orientational polarizability 0 . For a very strong electric field all molecular dipoles may completely aligned along the direction of the field. If n is the number of molecules per cubic meter, then the orientational polarization P0 will be P0 = n 0 E where 0 is the orientaional polarizability. This orientational polarization is strongly temperature dependent. This decreases with increase in temperature. e i 0 Thus the atomic polarizability is given by

Preliminary
Number of lines of force received by unit area is called Flux Density or electric displacement, D. Its unit is Coulomb/m2 D E , also D 0 E P E 0 E P, 0 r E 0 E P 0 ( r 1) E P .........( 1 p) 0 ( r 1) E 0 e E

r 1 e .......... ........( 2 p)