Module : 1 (Chapter /1)

Contents: Dielectric Materials Polarization mechanism & Dielectric constant Behavior of polarization under impulse an frequency switching Dielectric loss Spontaneous polarization Piezoelectric effect Application of Dielectric materials

Why Dielectric Materials?

Insulators: Coolants for transformers Energy storage and other applications in capacitors. Pulsed power and weapons Power conditioning Power factor correction Suppression and coupling Signal coupling & Decoupling Noise filters and snubbers Motor starters Signal processing Tuned circuits Sensing Hazards and safety

BASICS OF DIELECTRIC MATERIALS

section I: Basic Questions

What is a dielectric? Can insulator be affected by electric field? Why there is any electrical effect if the insulators are indeed insulators and do not conduct electricity? Why should a field induce a dipole moment in an atom if the atom is not a conducting sphere?

What is a dielectric?
1.

A material that can sustain an electric field but does not conduct electric current. A nonconducting or insulating substance that resists passage of electric current. More or less a synonym for electrical insulator, a material with a low (compared with that of a metal) electrical conductivity. Most generally, a dielectric is an insulator, a substance that is highly resistant to flow of electric current. Layers of such substances are commonly inserted into capacitors to improve their performance, and the term dielectric refers specifically to this application.

2.

3.

4.

Can insulator be affected by electric field?

Till the time of Faraday people used to think; it cant because it does not conduct electricity. Faradays experimental observation: Capacitance of a capacitor is increased when an insulator is placed between the plates, the capacitance is increased by a factor if the insulator completely fills the space between the plates. depends only on the nature of the insulating material and is called dielectric constant Q: What should be the dielectric constant of vacuum? Q: Can we have a dielectric substance having dielectric constant 0.9?

Why there is any electrical effect if the insulators are indeed insulators and do not conduct electricity?
Consider a parallel plate capacitor; Capacitance Charge Where A= Area of plates, d = Plate separation C= Capacitance Q= Charge on plate V= Voltage difference

C=

0 A
d

Q = CV .

Now if we put a piece of insulating material like Lucite or glass between the plates, we find that the capacitance is larger. That means, the voltage is lower for the same charge. But voltage difference is the integral of the electric filed across the capacitor, therefore we conclude, the electric field is reduced even though the charges on the plates remain unchanged.

Hence C, V & E:

C=q/V (1) C=0A/d (2) V=V0/ (3) E=E0 / (4)

The capacitance of a set of charged parallel plates is increased by the insertion of a dielectric material. The capacitance is inversely proportional to the electric field between the plates.

Why should a field induce a dipole moment in an atom if the atom is not a conducting sphere?

Consider a single atom. We have a positively charged nucleus and the electron "cloud". For Spherically symmetric system; center of gravity of negative charges (electron cloud) coincides exactly with the location of the nucleus. If we now apply an electrical field, the centers of charge (+ve and ve) will be separated. The electron cloud will be pulled in the direction of the positive pole of the field, the nucleus to the negative one.

Section II: Review of Basics

Dipoles in solid dielectrics; Polarization. Dipole moment of the atom. Polarization is dipole moment per unit volume: A relation between E & P: Connection between the Polarization P and the Electrical Displacement D Polarizability Relation between E, P, &

Dipoles in solid dielectrics; Polarization

The dielectric constant of solids is an interesting material parameter only if the material is exposed to an electric field. The effect of electrical field is It induces electrical dipoles in the material and tries to align them in the field direction. It tries to align existing dipoles.
* Of course we also may have a combination of both effects: The electrical field may change the distribution of existing dipoles while trying to align them, and it may generate new dipoles in addition.

1. 2.

The total effect of an electrical field on a dielectric material is called the polarization of the material.

Dipole moment of the atom

The center of the positive and negative charges q (= z e) are now separated by a distance , and we thus induced a dipole moment which is defined by = q

is a vector because is a vector. The way we define it, its tip will always point towards the positive charge.

= q

Polarization is dipole moment per unit volume

For bulk materials - sum up all individual dipole moments contained in the given volume of the material and divide this sum by the volume V. Polarization P;

P = /V = < > N

Where < > = average vector dipole moment (C-m); NV = Number density of dipoles (per m3). The physical dimension of the polarization thus is C/m2; (Coulomb per square meter). i.e. the polarization has the dimension of an area charge, and since is a vector, P is also a vector.

More on polarization

Polarization P = 0 does not mean that the material does not contain dipole moments, but only that the vector sum of all dipole moments is zero.

This will always be the case if the dipole moment vectors are randomly distributed with respect to their directions. But it will also happen if there is an ordered distribution with pairs of opposing dipole moments P has the dimension of C/m2, i.e. that of surface charge density (Prove it.), To see this, let us consider a simple plate capacitor or condenser with a homogeneously polarized material inside its plates. (isotropic dielectric slab) We have the following idealized situation:

all dipole moments have the same direction. the charge density inside a small probing volume, it is clearly zero in the volume of the material (because there are just as many positive as negative charges.) We are thus left with the surfaces, means equal and opposite charge (surface polarization charge) on surfaces separated by a distance , Thus surface "volume" VS = A Hence P = v / V = s S / VS= . s q/ VS = . s q/ (. A)= s q/A

Therefore, surface charge density is equal to the magnitude of polarization. pol=|P|=P=Nq

A relation between Electric field E & Polarization P:

linear relationship between the applied field E (Low)and P, i.e. Where

r r P = 0E

Note that including 0 in the relation is a convention which is useful in the SI system, to make dimensionless, P is proportional to E ( Linear relationship) for Low E. P is proportional to E2 or E3 (Non linear ) for High E.

0 = permittivity constant (of vacuum) = dielectric susceptibility ( Material parameter P/ 0 E ).

Connection between the Polarization P and the Electrical Displacement D

Inside materials, the electrical field strength E was (and still is) replaced by a vector D called the electrical displacement or electrical flux density, which is defined as D = r 0 E Where r = (relative) dielectric constant (DK) of the material. (the product r 0 is called the permittivity).
* Note that in the English literature often the abbreviation ("Kappa") is used; in proper microelectronics slang one than talks of "low materials" (pronounced "low khe" as in (O)K) when on actually means "low kappa" or "low epsilon relative".

D is supposed to give the "acting" flux inside the material.

The electric displacement D in a dielectric: caused by some external field Eex is the displacement D0 in vacuum plus the polarization P, i.e. D = D 0 + P = 0 E + P = 0 E + 0 E = 0 (+1) E
r = (+1)

Therefore,

Note:
1.

2.

Here we have used P =0 E , in which we have simply assumed that P is parallel to E, which is only reasonable for isotropic materials . In anisotropic media, e.g. non-cubic crystals, P does not have to be parallel to E, the scalar quantities r and then are tensors.

Atomic Polarizability
As an effect of E, the plus charge shifted in one way and the minus in the other. So the atom has now a tiny dipole moment which points out in the same direction as E. which is proportional to the field E (as long as E is reasonably weak): =E The constant of proportionality is called the atomic polarizability.
Ques. A primitive model of an atom consists of a point nucleus (+q) surrounded by a uniformly charged spherical cloud (-q) of radius a. What will be the atomic polarizability of such an atom? Note: we will discuss it in Electronic polarization.

A relation between E, P, & :

=E P = /V = < > N V
Hence Or

P = N V E =P / N V E

Section II : Summary

Dipoles in solid dielectrics; Polarization. Dipole moment of the atom. Polarization is dipole moment per unit volume: A relation between E & P: Connection between the Polarization P and the Electrical Displacement D Polarizability

= q

P = /V = < > NV
P has the dimension of C/cm2, i.e. that of surface charge density

r r P = 0 E

D = 0 (+1) E =P / N E =E
V

Section III : Polarization Mechanisms

1. Types of Dielectrics Polar Non Polar 1. Electronic polarization: 2. Ionic polarization: 3. Orientation (Dipolar) polarization : interface polarization

Types of Dielectrics:

Polar dielectrics:

Materials having permanent dipole moments Net dipole moment Not zero Many natural molecules are examples of systems with a finite electric dipole moment (permanent dipole moment), since in most types of molecules the centers of gravity of the positive and negative charge distributions do not coincide. Ex. Water

Dipole moment of water molecule.

Non Polar dielectrics:

Net dipole moment zero, (in the absence of E)

centers of gravity of the positive and negative charge distributions coincide with each other. Ex. O2, N2 and Nobel gases

Polarization Mechanisms

Dielectric Polarization is nothing but the displacement of charged particles under the action of the electric field to which they are subjected. Therefore this displacement of the electric charges results in the formation of electric dipole moment in atoms, ions or molecules of the material. There are essentially three basic kinds of polarization mechanisms:

1. Electronic polarization: also called atomic polarization. An electric field will always
displace the center of charge of the electrons with respect to the nucleus and thus induce a dipole moment. e.g noble gases.

Polarization Mechanism---2. Ionic polarization: In this case a (solid) material must have some ionic character. It then automatically has internal dipoles, but net dipole moment is zero. The external field then induces net dipoles by slightly displacing the ions from their rest position. Ex. simple ionic crystals like NaCl. 3. Orientational polarization: Some time called Dipolar polarization; Here the (usually liquid or gaseous) material must have natural dipoles which can rotate freely. In thermal equilibrium, the dipoles will be randomly oriented and thus carry no net polarization. The external field aligns these dipoles to some extent and thus induces a polarization of the material. Ex. is water, i.e. H2O in its liquid form.

NOTE: or all of these mechanisms may act simultaneously. Some

Atomic polarization, e.g., is always present in any material and thus becomes superimposed on whatever other mechanism there might be. All three mechanisms are essential for basic consideration and calculations.
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However interface polarization is also found in materials:

Surfaces, grain boundaries, interface boundaries may be charged, i.e. they contain dipoles which may become oriented to some degree in an external field and thus contribute to the polarization of the material.

There is simply no general way to calculate the charges on interfaces nor their contribution to the total polarization of a material. Interface polarization is therefore often omitted from the discussion of dielectric properties.