Computation and Measurement of High Field Phenomena in Dielectrics

Polymeric dielectrics have two electric field "thresholds", the first where conduction goes from linear to nonlinear, which is typically in the range of 10 V/m, and the second where carriers attain high mobility, which is typically in the range of 3times10 V/m. The latter is of great importance, as under the action of a cyclic field, the dielectric will degrade rapidly as a result of hot electrons, UV photons, etc. This paper will review important high field phenomena in dielectrics along with the methods used to measure and compute them