Transient characterization of extreme field conduction in dielectrics

High field degradation and electric breakdown of dielectrics are extremely complex phenomena as a result of the interplay among the electric field, temperature, material morphology, and extrinsic material properties. Fundamental understanding of carrier mobility related prebreakdown phenomena in dielectrics provides insights into high field transport phenomena as well as associated aging and onset of charge injection induced instability. Investigation of such extreme field conduction has been traditionally limited to the divergent field distribution generated using point-plane electrode configuration, as testing of parallel plate sample configuration under quasi steady-state conditions can only reach around two thirds of the breakdown field as a result of rapid high field aging. A circuit has been developed for transient characterization of conduction through a planar dielectric film during a linear ramp voltage to breakdown via the cancellation of displacement current to facilitate the measurement of small resistive currents down to 10ppm level. The dynamic cancellation of displacement current during an applied voltage waveform is realized through the use of a high frequency sinusoidal “bias” voltage to generate a capacitive current that can be cancelled using a feedback circuit based on a voltage-controlled amplifier with negligible phase shift and a dual-phase digital lock-in amplifier. Such capability of transient characterization of conduction in dielectrics will provide insights into dielectric aging and breakdown mechanism and form a quantitative basis for the extraction of critical transport parameters for conduction under extreme electric fields.