Optical pre-breakdown warnings in insulating polymers

Most of the models involving microscopic physical processes in electrical ageing and degradation and breakdown have very little experimental background and suffer from a lack of practical feedback. We have developed an experimental approach based on the detection and the analysis of electroluminescence (EL) of technically important insulating polymer materials. We intend to give the most important conclusions, and will consider the implication of the observation on the validity of the proposed models.