Dielectric strength of parylene HT

Abstract

The dielectric strength of parylene HT (PA-HT) films was studied at room temperature in a wide thickness range from 500 nm to 50 μm and was correlated with nano- and microstructure analyses. X-ray diffraction and polarized optical microscopy have revealed an enhancement of crystallization and spherulites development, respectively, with increasing the material thickness (d). Moreover, a critical thickness dC (between 5 and 10 μm) is identified corresponding to the beginning of spherulite developments in the films. Two distinct behaviors of the dielectric strength (FB ) appear in the thickness range. For d ≥ dC , PA-HT films exhibit a decrease in the breakdown field following a negative slope (FB  ∼ d −0.4), while for d < dC , it increases with increasing the thickness (FB  ∼ d 0.3). An optimal thickness doptim  ∼ 5 μm corresponding to a maximum dielectric strength (FB  ∼ 10 MV/cm) is obtained. A model of spherulite development in PA-HT films with increasing the thickness is proposed. The decrease in FB above dC is explained by the spherulites development, whereas its increase below dC is induced by the crystallites growth. An annealing of the material shows both an enhancement of FB and an increase of the crystallites and spherulites dimensions, whatever the thickness. The breakdown field becomes thickness-independent below dC showing a strong influence of the nano-scale structural parameters. On the contrary, both nano- and micro-scale structural parameters appear as influent on FB for d ≥ dC.