Stochastic Model of Breakdown Nucleation under Intense Electric Fields

Abstract

Plastic response due to dislocation activity under intense electric fields is proposed as a source of breakdown. A model is formulated based on stochastic multiplication and arrest under the stress generated by the field. A critical transition in the dislocation population is suggested as the cause of protrusion formation leading to subsequent arcing. The model is studied using Monte Carlo simulations and theoretical analysis, yielding a simplified dependence of the breakdown rates on the electric field. These agree with experimental observations of field and temperature breakdown dependencies.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures + Supplemental Material

References in corpus (6)

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• Extinction of metastable stochastic populations
• WKB theory of large deviations in stochastic populations
• Entropic Effect on the Rate of Dislocation Nucleation
• Spectral theory of metastability and extinction in birth-death systems
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• Surface and sub-surface modifications of copper electrodes exposed to high-field conditioning at cryogenic temperatures
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• Linear voltage recovery after a breakdown in a pulsed dc system
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• Universal Linear Response of First-Passage Kinetics: A Framework for Prediction and Inference