The Theory of Everything In The Electrical Breakdown Of Polymeric Dielectrics: Maybe

Electrical breakdown due to mechanisms ranging from deterministic breakdown through defect induced breakdown to electrical ageing is evaluated with the aim of determining its fundamental features. It is shown that even at sub-critical applied fields, when mechanisms attempt to reach a field-dependent equilibrium, the criterion for the onset of failure is the generation of a critical field either by field enhancement or modification of the material to make the applied field critical. There is an exception at low applied fields when a critical field cannot be reached and the dielectric fails by either becoming unusable or by the random formation of a degradation short-circuit.