Hourdakis, E.
, Bryant, G.
and Zimmerman, N.
(2006),
Electrical breakdown in the microscale: testing the standard theory, Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics), [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=32297
(Accessed December 3, 2024)
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Electrical breakdown in the microscale: testing the standard theory
Published
Author(s)
, ,
Abstract
We present breakdown voltage measurement data in air taken with a technique we recently developed. The data suggests that below 10 ?m of electrode separation the dominant effect is field emission of electrons from the electrodes. Analyzing the data in that regime, using the theory of standard field emission and field amplification on the surface of a conductor we come to a prediction about the geometry of the surface roughness induced protrusions on the electrodes. For the first time, we look for these protrusions using an AFM. We find several reasons why the standard theory does not appear to explain our data. We also present calculations that show that the common assumption that one protrusion is responsible for the observed current is not warranted. We conclude that the standard theory is not sufficient.Citation
Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)
Volume
100
Issue
123306-1
Pub Type
Journals
Download Paper
Citation
Issues
If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact reflib@nist.gov.
Created December 28, 2006, Updated October 12, 2021