A discussion on charge transport and electroluminescence in insulating polymers

Polymers submitted to thermo/electrical stress suffer from ageing that can drastically affect their functional behaviour. Understanding the physico/chemical processes at play during ageing and defining transport regimes in which these mechanisms start to be critical is therefore a prime goal to prevent degradation and to develop new formulation or new materials with improved properties. It is thought that a way to define these critical regimes is to investigate under which conditions (in terms of stress parameters) light is generated in the material by electroluminescence (EL). This can happen through impact excitation/ionization involving hot carriers or upon bi-polar charge recombination (a definition that excludes light from partial discharges, which would sign an advanced stage in the degradation process). After a brief review of the EL phenomenology under DC, we introduce a numerical model of charge transport postulating a recombination-controlled electroluminescence. The model output is critically evaluated with special emphasize on the comparison between simulated and experimental light emission. Finally, we comment some open questions and perspectives.