A gas will breakdown in a high electric field and the mechanisms of this breakdown at DC and high frequency fields have been an object of study for the past century. This paper describes a method to induce breakdown in a uniform microwave field using a re-entrant sub-quarter wave resonator. Slater’s theorem is used to determine the magnitude of the threshold electric field at which breakdown oc...

It has been known for some time that non-destructive electric breakdowns precede destructive thermal dielectric breakdown. We have been studying both processes in oxides between 5 nm and 80 nm in thickness. We have shown that the electric breakdowns can trigger dielectric breakdown under certain conditions. This triggering of dielectric breakdown causes TDDB distributions to be nonunique. The T...

Dielectric breakdown of solid insulation has been studied for many years but the mechanisms that cause breakdown have not been fully understood. Charge injection always occurs at high electric fields and especially under dc conditions. The presence of space charge in solid dielectrics will result in distortion of electric field distribution. Dielectric breakdown can be initiated in the region w...

Stress grading (SG) layer in cable terminations limits the critical electric field and properties of SG materials are important issues which have to be considered during manufacturing and selecting procedure. In this paper, two different types of (SG) materials are analyzed by both theory and test. According to the applied theory, important parameters as: electrical resistivity, breakdown volta...

The impact of pulsed electric fields (PEF) on cellular integrity and texture of Ranchero and Sabroso onions (Allium cepa L.) was investigated. Electrical properties, ion leakage rate, texture, and amount of enzymatically formed pyruvate were measured before and after PEF treatment for a range of applied field strengths and number of pulses. Critical electric field strengths or thresholds (E(c))...

[1] Previous research has shown that the statistical measurements of charge moment changes in sprite-producing lightning are in general agreement with the predictions based on the conventional breakdown theory for sprite initiation in the mesosphere. Measurements have progressed to the point where a detailed, event-level quantitative comparison between the measurements and predictions could mor...

---A novel two zone step doped (TZSD) lateral bipolar junction transistor (LBJT) on silicon-oninsulator (SOI) with buried oxide thick step (BOTS) is proposed. The concept of linear doping and linear oxide thickness for increasing the breakdown voltage has been replaced by using step in doping and step in oxide thickness. These steps result in the creation of additional electric field peaks in t...

Dielectrics are essential components in modern electronics and electric systems. When a sufficiently high voltage is applied on a layer of a dielectric, the dielectric will breakdown electrically. The breakdown limits the electrical energy density of the dielectric. We show that constraining the deformation of soft dielectrics can greatly enhance their breakdown electric fields and thus increas...