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 =

r dl

VB VA = E dl =
A

Q
4 0 r

dr =
2

Q
4 0

B
rB

Therefore
B

r
rA

Q
4 0 r

E
P dl

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
2 C 2
2
C
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 = j C V
= j C V
0

I C = ' C0V
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 '

Power loss per unit capacitance

When considering the parallel equivalent
circuit of a capacitor, the power loss in the
capacitor is due to Rp. If V is the rms value of
the voltage across the capacitor, then the
power dissipated per unit capacitance, Wcap,
is
V2 1 2 0"A d
2 "
Wcap = =V

=V
=V2tan
0' A
'
Rp C
d

Example: Consider the three dielectric materials listed

in Table with the real and imaginary dielectric constants,
' and 'at 1 kHz.
(i) At a given voltage, which dielectric will have the
lowest power dissipation per unit capacitance at 1 kHz
and at an operating temperature of 50 C?
(ii) Is this also true at 120 C?
T =50 oC

T =50 oC

T = 120 oC

T = 120 oC

Polycarbonate

2.47

0.003

2.535

0.003

PET

2.58

0.003

2.75

0.027

PEEK

2.24

0.003

2.25

0.003

Materials

Polarisation
What happens when an insulating material is
inserted between the plates of a capacitor?
Experimental evidence
C
+Q0

C0

+
+

+
+

-Q0
i(t)

+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

V
(a)

+Q

(b)

(c)

-Q

Q
V

According to
, 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.
C =

_
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 causes:
(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.

Polarisation
The total effect of an electrical field on a
dielectric material is called the polarization
of the material.
Polarisation is related to permittivity of
the dielectric.
Two questions:
1. Given the atomic structure of the material What is its dielectric constant?
2. How does the dielectric constant depend
on the frequency of the external field?

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

-q

+q

p ( m ) = qd
d

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 itself.
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

1. Capacitive probe method

2. Kevin probe vibrating capacitive probe

3. Pulsed electroacoustic technique

Capacitive probe operation principle

A capacitive probe is one of the most popular devices
for surface charge and surface potential
measurements.
Capacitive probe allows for non-contact and nondestructive examination of the surface charges and/or
voltages.
The principle of operation has its origin in the very basic
equation defining capacitance of a capacitor:

Q
C=
V
One of the simplest constructions of a capacitor
consists of two at and parallel conductive plates.

The same configuration is used in the capacitive

probe: the capacitance is created by the probe and
the plane under test
U1 - a difference of potentials between the
probe and the ground (earth) Reference
U2 - the voltage between the charged plane
and ground.
The voltage U between electrodes of the
capacitor is then equal to |U1-U2|.
Assume for a moment that the probe is grounded (so that U1=0 and U=U2).
The charge on the tested surface can be then calculated as

Q =U

0 r A
D

As long as it is possible to determine the voltage U and U1, the charge on the
tested surface can be calculated.

Kelvin probe and Vibrating capacitive

probe
The expression dQ/dt
actually defines an electric
current I owing either from or
to the probe when the
distance D is being changed
(I = dQ/dt ).
It is possible to nd out the
voltage between the probe
and the surface under test
simply by measuring the
current I and the distance D:

The probe vibrates in the direction

perpendicular to the tested surface and
the current owing to and from the probe
changes proportionally to the amplitude
and frequency of that vibration.
If the motion of the probe is sinusoidal, then
the distance D is equal to:
D = D0 + D1 sin(t)

[m]

D1 is the amplitude of vibrations [m], is

the circular frequency of vibrations, = 2f
[rad/s], where f is a frequency in [Hz].

The current can be determined as:

In order to nullify that current the

voltage U has to be brought to zero.
In this case the probe-to-ground
voltage U1 will be equal to the
voltage on the surface U2. The
crucial factor here is proper
detection of the current, so the
voltage U1 can be appropriately
adjusted.

 Pulsed electroacoustic method

Vp(t)
Vdc

Sample

transducer
p(t)

Vs(t)
electrode
Detecting
electrode

2
(x)

Vs(t)

Fig.3 Schematic diagram of PEA system

Electret Applications
1 Sensor Electret Condenser Microphone (ECM)
An ECM is a pressure sensor
having a moving electret diaphragm
made of polymer film sandwiched
between two electrodes. When
sound wave is incident on the
diaphragm, its movement alters the
distance between two electrodes
and capacitance of the device
changes, producing voltage signal
in the external circuit.
A poled piezoelectric film of PVDF is another promising polymer used as
diaphragm in electret microphone. Mechanical bending of diaphragm due to
incident sound wave results in induced electric charge on the electrode.
Both these configurations are being used in ECMs. A back-plate electret
microphone configuration has a thin electret film of non-polar material like teflon or
a piezoelectric material like PVDF coated on the back electrode, with a freely
suspended diaphragm made of a conventional polymer such as polypropylene.

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

2 Filters
The first application of electrets leading to a
patent was for an air filter in 1929.
Airborne particles are a cause of serious
health problems. It is necessary to develop
simple and reliable filters/sensors for
detection and control of air pollution.

Electret composite filters with electrostatic charged fibres behave like mini
capacitors, with one side of the fibre being charged negative and the other side
being positive. The medium as a whole is neutral. Dust particles are attracted
towards the filter and get deposited on the fibres leaving more space between
the fibres for flow of air.
With increasing dust load, electret filters have shown high collection efficiency
and lower pressure drop owing to electrostatic force on the surface.

Advantages
(i) Spread into a broad web
(ii) Able to capture both charged or neutral
particles
(iii) Capable of capturing different sizes of
particles
(iv) No significant pressure drop