Space charge and polarization in insulators

Space charge and polarization effects have been observed since as early as antiquity. They have been associated during these millennia with the development of physics and particularly electromagnetism. Today they are involved in beneficial applications such as electrets. However, they also have negative consequences such as in high voltage insulation. This latter field is of particular importance since the reduction in the global carbon footprint will lead to a strong development in the use of electricity. Other applications of insulators and their polarization are now under development in novel fields, such as neural networks, biology and microfluidics, for instance using electrophoresis when dealing with charged particles or using dielectrophoresis when dealing with uncharged particles such as cells at microscale. Examples will be given of such new applications.