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DielectricMaterialCapacitorGuide

Fundamentals

Types

Applications

Resistor

FundamentalsDielectricMaterials

Contents

Dielectric Materials

I.Dielectricmaterials
I.Dielectricconstant
II.Dielectricstrength
III.Dielectricloss

Dielectric materials

II.Applicationofdielectricmaterialsto

Dielectricmaterialsareessentiallyinsulators,whichmeansthatnocurrentwillflowthroughthematerialwhenavoltageis

capacitors

applied.However,certainchangesdohappenattheatomicscale.Whenavoltageisappliedacrossadielectricobject,it

Tags

becomespolarized.Sinceatomsaremadeofapositivelychargednucleusandnegativelychargedelectrons,polarizationisan
effectwhichslightlyshiftselectronstowardsthepositivevoltage.Theydonottravelfarenoughtocreateacurrentflow

capacitor,dielectricbreakdown,dielectriccapacitor,

throughthematerialtheshiftismicroscopic,buthasaveryimportanteffect,especiallywhendealingwithcapacitors.Once

dielectricconstantof,dielectricfrequency,dielectric

thevoltagesourceisremovedfromthematerial,iteitherreturnstoitsoriginalnonpolarizedstate,orstayspolarizedifthe

insulator,dielectricloss,dielectricmaterials,dielectric

molecularbondsinthematerialareweak.Thedifferencebetweenthetermsdielectricandinsulatorisnotverywelldefined.All

physics,dielectricresonator,dielectricstrength,

dielectricmaterialsareinsulators,butagooddielectricisonewhichiseasilypolarized.

dielectrics,electricalpropertiesofmaterials,
fundamentals,hightemperaturepolymer,lowdielectric

Theamountofpolarizationwhichoccurswhenacertainvoltageisappliedtoanobjectinfluencestheamountofelectrical

constant

energythatisstoredintheelectricfield.Thisisdescribedbythedielectricconstantofthematerial.Thedielectricconstantis

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nottheonlypropertyofdielectricmaterials.Otherpropertiessuchasdielectricstrengthanddielectriclossareequally
importantinthechoiceofmaterialsforacapacitorinagivenapplication.

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Dielectric constant
Thedielectricconstantofamaterial,alsocalledthepermittivityofamaterial,representstheabilityofamaterialtoconcentrate
electrostaticlinesofflux.Inmorepracticalterms,itrepresentstheabilityofamaterialtostoreelectricalenergyinthe
presenceofanelectricfield.Allmaterials,includingvacuum,storeenergywhenplacedinanelectricfield.Thepermittivityof
vacuumisdefinedasthephysicalconstant0,whichisapproximately0=8.854x1012faradspermeter.Thisconstant
appearsinmanyelectromagnetismformulas.

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Sincemostcapacitorsarenotmadeofvacuum,itmakessensetodefinepermittivityforeverymaterial.Thepermittivityofa
materialisdefinedas=r0,whereistheabsolutepermittivityanderistherelativepermittivity.risanumberwhichis
alwaysgreaterthan1,meaningthatallmaterialsstoremoreenergythanfreespacewhensubjectedtoanelectricfield.This
propertyisquiteusefulincapacitorapplications,andwewillexplainthisfurtherinthisarticle.Itshouldbenotedthatthe
relativepermittivitydependsonmanyfactors,suchastemperature,pressureandevenfrequency,whichiswhymaterialswith
morestabledielectricconstantarefavoredinsomeapplications.
Differentmaterialshavedifferentvaluesofrelativepermittivity.Hereweprovidealistofmaterialscommonlyusedin
capacitors,alongwiththeirervaluesatthefrequencyof1kHzatroomtemperature,whichcanbeusedasaquickreference
andshowsthewiderangeofvaluesencounteredinpractice:

Material

Vacuum

Water

3088(dependingontemperature)

Glass

3.710

PTFE(Teflon)

2.1

Polyethylene(PE)

2.25

Polyimide

3.4

Polypropylene

2.22.36

Polystyrene

2.42.7

Titaniumdioxide

86173

Strontiumtitanate

310

Bariumstrontiumtitanate

500

Bariumtitanate

125010,000(dependingontemperature)

Conjugatedpolymers

1.8upto100,000(dependingontype)

Calciumcoppertitanate

>250,000

Dielectric strength
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7/11/2016

DielectricMaterialCapacitorGuide

Unfortunately,thereisalimitonthevoltageaninsulatorcanwithstandbeforeconductingelectricity.Allmaterialshavean
uppervoltagelimit,calledbreakdownvoltage.Agoodexampleofthisisair.Itisconsideredaninsulator,butundercertain
circumstancesitcanflowcurrent.Thisisexactlywhathappensduringalightningstrike.Afterthebreakdownfieldstrengthis
exceeded,airisionized(electronsaretornawayfromtheatomsnucleus)andtheybeginmovingundertheinfluenceofthe
electricfield,producingelectricalcurrent.Itisveryimportantnottoexceedthemaximumratedvoltageofacapacitorinorder
topreventdamageorevencompletedestruction.Thedielectricstrengthforairisapproximately3megavoltspermeter.In
comparison,thedielectricstrengthformicaisapproximately120MV/m.Thechoiceofdielectricmaterialisveryimportantin
someapplicationswherehighvoltagesareexpected,orwhenthethicknessofthedielectricisverysmall.

Dielectric loss
Thetermdielectriclossreferstotheenergythatislosttoheatingofanobjectthatismadeofadielectricmaterialifavariable
voltageisappliedtoit.Theselosseshappenbecauseasthematerialchangespolarization,thetinyelectronshiftscanbe
regardedasatinyalternatingcurrentflow.Differentmaterialshavedifferentlossesatdifferentfrequencies,andthis
characteristicmustbeaccountedforinsomehighfrequencyapplications.

Application of dielectric materials to capacitors

Inordertounderstandtheeffectofthedielectriconacapacitor,letusfirstquicklyreviewtheknownformulaforthe
capacitanceofaparallelplatecapacitor:

whereCisthecapacitance,ristherelativepermittivityofthematerial,0isthepermittivityofvacuum,Aistheareaofthe
platesanddisthedistancebetweentheplates.Itbecomesclearthatthelargerris,thelargertheresultingcapacitance
becomes.Forexample,airasamaterialhasarelativepermittivityofapproximately1,meaningthatitactsasifthecapacitor
plateswereplacedinavacuum.Ontheotherhand,somepolymerscanhavetherelativepermittivityofupto100,000!Using
suchmaterials,itispossibletoachievethesamecapacitanceinamuchsmallervolume,openingpossibilityfor
miniaturization.
Nowletslookatthedielectricstrength.Consideranaircapacitor,withthedistancebetweentheelectrodesbeing0.1mm.The
dielectricstrengthofairis3megavoltspermeter.Thismeansthatthemaximumvoltagethatcanbeappliedtothisexample
capacitoris300voltsunderidealconditions.Thesmallerthecapacitor,thelowerthemaximumallowedvoltage.Allcapacitors
havemaximumratedvoltageswhichdependonthematerialsused,andexceedingtheseratedvaluescoulddamageordestroy
thecapacitor.

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