Dielectric behavior

Topic 9
 Reading assignment
• Askeland and Phule, The Science
and Engineering of Materials, 4th
Ed., Sec. 18-8, 18-9 and 18-10.
• Shackelford, Materials Science for
Engineering, Sec. 15.4.
• Chung, Composite Materials, Ch. 7.
 Insulators and dielectric
properties
• Materials used to insulate an electric field
from its surroundings are required in a large
number of electrical and electronic
applications.
• Electrical insulators obviously must have a
very low conductivity, or high resistivity, to
prevent the flow of current.
• Porcelain, alumina, cordierite, mica, and
some glasses and plastics are used as
insulators.
 Dielectric strength
• Maximum electric field that an insulator
can withstand before it loses its
insulating behavior
• Lower for ceramics than polymers
• Dielectric breakdown - avalanche
breakdown or carrier multiplication
 Polarization in dielectrics
• Capacitor – An electronic device, constructed from
alternating layers of a dielectric and a conductor,
that is capable of storing a charge. These can be
single layer or multi-layer devices.
• Permittivity - The ability of a material to polarize
and store a charge within it.
• Linear dielectrics - Materials in which the dielectric
polarization is linearly related to the electric field;
the dielectric constant is not dependent on the
electric field.
• Dielectric strength - The maximum electric field
that can be maintained between two conductor
plates without causing a breakdown.
Polarization mechanisms in
materials:
(a) electronic,
(b) atomic or ionic,
(c) high-frequency dipolar or orientation
(present in ferroelectrics),
(d) low-frequency dipolar (present in linear
dielectrics and glasses),
(e) interfacial-space charge at electrodes,
and
(f ) interfacial-space charge at
heterogeneities such as grain boundaries.
A charge can be stored at the conductor plates in a vacuum
©2003 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.

(a). However, when a dielectric is placed between the plates

(b), the dielectric polarizes and additional charge is stored.
 Q
Do = ,
A
V
= ,
d
Do = o 
o = 8.85 x 10-12 C/(V.m)

Q  o A  o A
Slope = C o    ,
V d d
 Q
D m = D o  ,
A
Dm =  o  =  
Q  o A  o A
Cm =    C o ,
V d d
P = Dm  Do
=  o  o
= (  1) o
E
 Q  Q
=  1 ,
Q
P
 =  1  ,
 o
(bound charge)d = (  1) Qd
Dipole moment (  1)Qd (  1)Q
=  P ,
Volume Ad A
 Q
V=
Cm
Q = Dm A =   A
 o A A
Cm = 
x x
A
V=  x
A
x
Table 7.6 Values of the relative dielectric constant  of various dielectric
materials at 1 kHz (Data from Ceramic Source ’86, American Ceramic
Society, Columbus, Ohio, 1985, and Design Handbook for DuPont
Engineering Plastics).
Material _____
Al2O3 (99.5%) 9.8
BeO (99.5%) 6.7
Cordierite 4.1-5.3
Nylon-66 reinforced with glass fibers 3.7
Polyester 3.6
  = e  ˆ cos t  i sin t ,
ˆ it

Dm = D̂ m e
i t  
 D̂ m cost     i sin( t   ),

i t   ˆ it
D̂ m e  e ,
D̂ m -i D̂ m
 e  cos   i sin  ,
ˆ ˆ
Imaginary part of 
tan    ,
Real part of 
 dQ dv
ic  C ,
dt dt
 = V sin t
2
  2f  ,
T
dv
ic  C  CV cos  t ,
dt
V
 cos t
1/C
  
sin  t  
 2
 
 sin t cos  cos t sin
2 2
 cos t ,
V  
ic  sin  t   ,
1/C  2
 V
i R   sin t ,
R R
 V  
ic  sin  t   ,
1/C  2

 V
i R   sin t ,
R R

V/R 1
tan    ,
VC CR
 

Energy stored = i C dt ,

0

  V C sin t cos tdt ,
2

0

V C
2
 sin 2t dt ,
0
2
V C
2
 cos 2t 0 ,


4

  CV 2 cos 2  1 ,
1
4
Maximum energy stored = ½ CV2

This occurs when

cos 2ωt = -1
Energy loss per cycle due
to conduction through the
resistor R
 2 2 / 
Energy loss = V
R  sin t sin t dt
0
2 2

0 2 1  cos 2t  dt 

V 1

R
2
V 1 
2
1 
   t  sin 2t 
R  2  2  0
V 12

 2  0  0  0 
R  2 
V 2
 .
R
The smaller is R, the greater
is the energy loss.
 Energy lost per cycle V 2 / R

2  maximum energy stored 2CV / 22

1
  tan 
CR
Frequency dependence of polarization mechanisms.
On top is the change in the dielectric constant with increasing frequency,
and the bottom curve represents the dielectric loss.
Quartz – polarization only under stress
 ©2003 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.

(a) The oxygen ions are at face centers,

Ba+2 ions are at cube corners and
Ti+4 is at cube center in cubic BaTi03.
(b) In tetragonal BaTi03 ,the Ti+4 is off-center and
the unit cell has a net polarization.
Different polymorphs of
BaTiO3 and
accompanying
changes in lattice
constants and
dielectric constants.
Table 7.3 Contribution to dipole moment of a BaTiO3 unit cell by each
type of ion.

Ion Charge (C) Displacement Dipole moment

(m) (C.m)
Ba2+ (+2)(1.6 x 10-19) 0 0
Ti4+ (+4)(1.6 x 10-19) +0.10(10-10) 6.4 x 10-30
2O2- (side of cell) 2(-2)(1.6 x 10-19) -0.10(10-10) 6.4 x 10-30
O2- (top and (-2)(1.6 x 10-19) -0.13(10-10) 4.2 x 10-30
bottom of cell)
Total = 17 x 10-30
 30
17  10 C.m
P 30
4.03  3.98  10 m
2 3

= 0.27 C.m-2
-
Ec E
 c) Polycrystalline BaTiO3 showing
the influence of the electric field on
polarization.

(b) single crystal.

The effect of temperature and grain size
on the dielectric constant of barium
titanate. Above the Curie temperature,
the spontaneous polarization is lost
due to a change in crystal structure
and barium titanate is in the
paraelectric state. The grain size
dependence shows that similar to
yield-strength dielectric constant is a
microstructure sensitive property.
Effect of grain size
Ferroelectric domains in polycrystalline BaTiO3.
E
 Depoling
Piezoelectric aging rate r

u 2 u1 t2
 r log ,
u1 t1

u : parameter such as capacitance

t: number of days after polarization
Ferroelectric - A material
that shows spontaneous
and reversible dielectric
polarization.
Piezoelectric – A material that
develops voltage upon the
application of a stress and
develops strain when an electric
field is applied.
The (a) direct and (b) converse piezoelectric effect.
©2003 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning ™ is a trademark used herein under license.

In the direct piezoelectric effect, applied stress

causes a voltage to appear.
In the converse effect (b), an applied voltage
leads to development of strain.
Direct piezoelectric Reverse (converse)
effect piezoelectric effect
E

E
 Direct piezoelectric effect

P = d
P = d 

d   o

d: Piezoelectric coupling coefficient
(piezoelectric charge coefficient)
Table 7.1 The piezoelectric constant d (longitudinal)
for selected materials
Piezoelectric constant d
Material (C/N = m/V)
Quartz 2.3 x 10-12
BaTiO3 100 x 10-12
PbZrTiO6 250 x 10-12
PbNb2O6 80 x 10-12
P = Dm  Do P
 
 o   1
=  o  o d
 
 o   1
= (  1) o
V = ,
d
V 
 o   1
 d
V 
 o   1
d
g
  1 o

V = g
g: piezoelectric voltage coefficient
Reverse piezoelectric effect
S = d
S = d

 S

 P
 S

 P
Reverse piezoelectric effect
 S

  - 1 o 

 S

   1 o 
 S = d
 S
 
  - 1 o  
d
   1 o
 d

   1 o
 d

   1 o

d
g
  1 o
 = g
 = g
Hooke’s law

 = ES

 = g

 = gES
S = d 
S
gE
1
d
gE
1
E
gd
Electromechanical coupling factor
(electromechanical coupling coefficient)
k

output mechanical energy

k 
2

input electrical energy

output electrical energy
k  2

input mechanical energy

Substitution of A and B sites in BaTiO3
PZT: PbZrO3-PbTiO3 solid solution
or lead zirconotitanate
 Table 7.4 Properties of commercial PZT ceramics
PZT-5H PZT4
Property (soft) (hard)
Permittivity ( at 1 kHz) 3400 1300
Dielectric loss (tan  at 1 kHz) 0.02 0.004
Curie temperature (Tc, C) 193 328
Piezoelectric coefficients (10-12 m/V)
d33 593 289
d31 -274 -123
d15 741 496
Piezoelectric coupling factors
k33 0.752 0.70
k31 -0.388 -0.334
k15 0.675 0.71
Table 7.2 Measured longitudinal piezoelectric coupling coefficient d,
measured relative dielectric constant , calculated piezoelectric voltage
coefficient g and calculated voltage change resulting from a stress
change of 1 kPa for a specimen thickness of 1 cm in the direction of
polarization.
Voltage
Material d (10-13 m/V)* † g (10-4 m2/C)† change (mV)†
Cement paste 0.659  0.031 35 2.2 2.2
(plain)
Cement paste 208  16 2700 8.7 8.7
with steel fibers
and PVA
Cement paste 3.62  0.40 49 8.5 8.5
with carbon fibers
PZT 136 1024 15 15
Piezopolymer
 Bimorph (bi-strip)

Cantilever beam configuration for actuation

 Moonie

Cymbal

Composites with piezoelectric/ferroelectric material

sandwiched by metal faceplates fo enhancing the
piezoelectric coupling coefficient
Pyroelectric - The ability
of a material to
spontaneously polarize
and produce a voltage
due to changes in
temperature.
 dP d
p   o ,
dT dT

p = pyroelectirc coefficient
P = polarization
Table 7.5 Pyroelectric coefficient (10-6 C/m2.K)

20
BaTiO3
PZT 380
PVDF 27
Cement paste 0.002
 Px
V=
( - 1)  o

Voltage sensitivity

dV P dx x dP
= 
d ( - 1)  o d (  1)  o d
Compliance Piezoelectric
coupling
coefficient d
Piezoelectric composite
• When any material undergoes
polarization (due to an applied
electric field), its ions and
electronic clouds are displaced,
causing the development of a
mechanical strain in the
material. polarization.
• This phenomenon is known as
the electrostriction.
Examples of ceramic capacitors.
(a)Single-layer ceramic capacitor
(disk capacitors).
(b) Multilayer ceramic capacitor
(stacked ceramic layers).