A formula to calculate solid dielectric breakdown strength based on a model of electron impact ionization and multiplication

A formula to calculate the electrical breakdown strength EBD of solid dielectrics is derived based on a model of electron impact ionization and multiplication. This formula takes into account three types of parameters that influence EBD, namely, dielectric parameters (dielectric temperature and atom density), impact ionization parameters (ionization energy and probability), and multiplication parameters (number of initial electrons and number of generations of secondary electrons). The predictions of this formula are found to agree with experimental results. In addition, comparisons are made between the results of this formula and those of 38-generation-electron theory and other models, which show that the proposed formula is most appropriate to describe the breakdown of solid dielectrics on a nanosecond time scale.