EC311

Electronic Materials

Lecture 2- Introduction to Dielectric Basic

Formula

Dr. Nawal Zaher

1
 REVIEW OF SOME IDEAS OF ELECTRICITY
• When an external electromagnetic disturbance is introduced into a solid, it will produce
induced charge density and induced current density. These induced densities produce
induced electric and magnetic fields.

• A dielectric is an electrical insulator that can be polarized by an applied Electric field.

• When a dielectric is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the
material as they do in a conductor because they are not free carriers.
 Parallel Plate Capacitor
Dielectric

C
o A Q
+Qo Co -Qo +Q -Q

C= = i (t)
L V E E

C : Capacitance : charge stored per unit voltage.

A : Area of plate (m 2 )
L : distance between 2 plates (m) V V V

o : absolute permittivity (air) = 8.85  10 −12 F/m (a) (b) (c)

Fig. 7.1: (a) Parallel plate capacitor with free space between plates.
(b) As a slab of insulating material is inserted between the plates, there
A Q
C= = is an external current flow indicating that more charge is stored on the
plates. (c) The capacitance has been increased due to the insertion of
L V
a medium between the plates. (E is the electric field.)
=r o From Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices, Second Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-Hill, 2002)
[Link]

r : relative permittivity (dielectric constant) at air r = 1

3
Parameters Related to Dielectrics
Q
 d : charge density = charge per unit area = c / m 2
A
V
electric field = = V / m for the same media
L

D = displacement vector = E

D vector start from positive free charge and
ends on negative free charge

D =  d c / m2
Electric Field in Dielectric Material
-QP +QP
+ Q free - Q free

Edep

Eo
E

Fig. 7.47: The field E inside the dielectric can be considered to be

the sum of the field E0 due to the free charges (Qfree) and a field
due Edep to the polarization of the dielectric, called the
depolarization field.
From Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices, Second Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-Hill, 2002)
[Link]
Electric Field in Dielectric Material

P
E = Eo −
o
P : polarization vector
P =  p c / m2
P =o ( Eo − E ) =o (r E − E ) =o (r −1) E =o E e
 e : electric susciptibility

6
 Local Field
• The electric field inside a polarized
dielectric at the atomic scale is not uniform.
• The local field is the actual field that acts on
a molecules.
• It can be calculated by removing that
molecules and evaluating the field at that
point from the charges on the plates and
the dipoles surrounding the point.
E Elocal
Macroscopic field Microscopic filed
Average field in dielectric Field acts on an atom
Constant throughout medium Has a calculated value at the
position of atoms
7
Dipole Moment

Pin = ( Ze)d Pin is the magnitude of the induced electronic dipole moment
Z is the number of electrons orbiting the nucleus of the atom
d is the distance between the center of nucleus and negative ions
e.g. for Hydrogen atom Z=1, only one elecron

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Polarization
𝑃𝑖𝑛 = 𝛼𝑒 𝐸𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙
𝛼𝑒 : electronic polarization: The ability
of the material to be polarized. Isolated atom Gas Solid
dipole moments
𝑃= Elocal = Eo Elocal = Eo −
P
=E Elocal = E +
P P
= Eo − +
P
= Eo −
2P
volume o 3 o o 3 o 3 o
𝑃𝑖𝑛 + 𝑃𝑖𝑛 +. . . . . atoms × 𝑃𝑖𝑛 Eo  Elocal  E
𝑃= =
volume volume
𝑛
= 𝑁 × 𝑃𝑖𝑛 = 3 × 𝑃𝑖𝑛
𝑎
a: lattice constant
n: number of atoms per unit cell