MCET, Hyderabad Engineering Physics

UNIT-II

Dielectric materials:

Introduction:
The solids are classified as conductors, semiconductors and insulators. In
insulators the energy band gap is very high. The electrons in the insulators are
bounded and because of large energy gap it is not possible to excite the electrons
from valance band to the conduction band. Insulators are also referred as
dielectrics. Dielectrics are widely used in electrical applications. Some dielectrics
exhibit ferroelectricity, piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity. When dielectrics are
subjected to external fields the dielectric get dipole moment is known as dielectric
polarization.
Fundamental definitions:
Electric dipole:
The arrangement in which two equal opposite charges separated by a small
distance is known as electric dipole. The electric dipole is as shown in

Electric dipole moment ( p ):

The product of one of the charge and distance between the two charges is known as
electric dipole moment. It is a vector quantity and its direction is from negative
charge to positive charge
Electric dipole moment p  Q.L

Polarization vector or polarization ( P ):The ratio of the electric dipole moment

( p ) to the volume (V) of the dielectric is known as polarization ( P ). It is a vector
quantity and its direction is from negative charge to positive charge
p
Polarization P
V
Polarizability ( α ):
As electric field strength ( E ) increases, the induced dipole moment ( p ) in the
dielectrics increases then
 pE
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Therefore, p  α.E

The proportionality constant ‘α’ is the polarizability and is equal to the ratio of
electric dipole moment ( p ) to the electric field strength ( E ).
p
Therefore, α=
E
5. Electric susceptibility (  E ):
As electric field strength ( E ) increases, the polarization ( P ) also increases then

 PE

Therefore, P   E .E
The proportionality constant  E is the electric susceptibility and is equal to the
ratio of polarization to the electric field strength
P
Therefore, E 
E
6. Dielectric constant (K or ε r ):

The ratio of the permittivity of medium ( ε ) to the permittivity of free space ( ε o ) is

known as di-electric constant (K). It is also known as relative permittivity ( ε r ).
ε
εr =
εo
The ratio of capacity of capacitor with medium (C) to the capacity of capacitor
with air (Co) is also equal to the dielectric constant
C
εr =
Co

Types of polarization:
When a dielectric is placed in dc electric field, it gets polarized. The different types
of dielectric polarizations are
1) Electronic polarization
2) Ionic polarization
3) Orientation polarization
4) Space charge polarization
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Electronic polarization:
Electronic polarization refers to the induced dipole moment arises due to the
relative displacement of electrons with respect to the nuclei in presence of electric
field.

Fig The response of inert gas atom in electric field

Consider an atom of inert gas, in which a positive charge +Ze is at the nucleus and
an equal amount of negative charge –Ze is distributed in sphere of radius R. The
charge density ρ is given by
charge  Ze 3  Ze 
ρ= = =   ------------- (1).
volume 4 3
πR 4  πR 3 
3
When an electric field E is applied the electrons experience a Lorentz force
F =  ZeE -----------(2)

Due to this force the electron cloud is pulled apart form the nucleus through a
small separation ‘x’ as shown in Fig. But a Columbic attractive force develops
between the nucleus and displaced electron cloud, which tends to counter act the
displacement.
Let Q be the displaced electron cloud from the nucleus in a sphere of radius ‘x’
then
4
Q = ρ. πx3
3
3  Ze  4 3
 Q =   . πx
4  πR 3  3
 Ze.x3
Therefore, Q 
R3
The Columbic attractive force between the nucleus and electron cloud in the sphere
of radius ‘x’ is
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1 Q.Ze
F=
4πε o x 2
1  Zex3 Ze
 F= .
4πε o R 3 x 2
1 (Ze)2 x
Therefore, F= ---------------- (3)
4πε o R 3
Under equilibrium conditions the Lorentz force and Columbic attractive force are
balanced with each other

From (2) & (3)

1 (Ze) 2 .x
 - ZeE 
4πε o R 3
4πε o R 3
Therefore, Separation x  .E --------------- (4)
Ze
The dipole moment p  Ze.x
4πε o R 3 E
 p = Ze.
Ze
Therefore, p = 4πε o R E --------------------- (5)
3

Compare with p = αe E

Therefore, The electronic polarizability α e = 4πε o R 3

Conclusion:
i) Electronic polarization is independent of temperature.
ii) Electronic polarization occurs in all dielectric materials.
iii) It is proportional to the volume of atoms in the material.
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Ionic Polarization
Ionic Polarization which arises due to the displacement of cations (+ve) and
anions (-ve) in opposite directions and occurs in ionic solids in the presence of
electric field, is called ionic polarization.
Example : NaCl, KCl crystal.

Orientation Polarization
The orientation polarization is due to the existence of a permanent dipole moment
(polar molecule) in the dielectric medium. Polar molecules have permanent dipole even
in the absence of an electric field.
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When an electric field is applied on the dielectric medium with polar molecules,
the electric field tries to align these dipoles along its field direction as shown in
figure. Due to this there is a resultant dipole moment in that material and this
process is called orientation polarization.
Space Charge Polarization
The space charge polarization occurs due to the diffusion of ions along the
field direction giving rise to redistribution of charges in the dielectric.
Normally this type of polarization occurs in ferrites and semiconductors and it is
very small when compared to other types of polarization.

Frequency Dependence and Temperature effect on Dielectric:

Frequency dependence
On application of an alternating field across the material, the polarization occurs as
function of time.

Where Pm is the maximum polarization attained due to applied field and t is the
relaxation time. Which is the time taken for a polarization process to reach 0.63 of
the maximum value. The relaxation times are different for different kinds of
polarization mechanisms.
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1. Electronic polarization is very fast and is completed at any instant of time even
when the frequency of the voltage is very high in the optical range (10 15 Hz). Thus
it occurs at all frequencies.
2. Ionic Polarization is slower and the ions do not respond when the voltage
corresponds to visible optical frequencies, i.e., the electric field changes in polarity
at very fast, so that the ions are not able to reorient themselves due up to the field.
So the ionic polarization does not occur at visible optical frequencies. It occurs
only at frequencies less than 1013 Hz.
3. Orientation Polarization is even slower than ionic polarization and occurs only
at electrical frequencies (audio and radio frequencies 106 Hz).
4. Space-charge polarization is the slowest process because the ions have to
diffuse (jump) over several inter atomic distances. This occurs at very low
frequencies of 50 - 60 Hz (power frequencies).
Thus at low frequencies all the four polarizations will occur and the total
polarization is very high, but at high frequencies, the value of the total polarization
is very small. The following graphs show the frequency dependence of polarization
mechanism and the corresponding power losses at those frequencies.
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Temperature dependence
Electronic and ionic polarizations are independent of temperature and the
orientation and space charge polarizations are dependent of temperature.
Orientation polarization is inversely proportional to the temperature.
Orientation polarization decreases when temperature increases. Because the
random nature decreases the tendency of permanent dipoles to align along the field
direction. Thus the dielectric constant increases.
Space charge polarization is directly proportional to the temperature. The
space charge polarization increases with increase the temperature. It is because of
the fact that the thermal energy helps to overcome the activation barrier and the
ions diffuse easily, this results in decrease of dielectric constant.
Ferroelectricity:
The dielectric materials which are having spontaneous polarization in the
absence of electric field are called ferroelectric materials and this phenomenon of
spontaneous polarization is called ferroelectricity.

Examples: Rochelle salt, Barium titanate, potassium phosphate, lithium niobate

etc.
Rochelle salt exhibits spontaneous polarization over a range of temperature – 18oC
to 22oC.

Properties of ferroelectric materials:

1. Ferroelectric materials exhibits spontaneous polarization i.e., they are polarized even
in the absence of electric field.
2. They exhibit dielectric hysteresis. The lagging of polarization behind the applied
electric field is called dielectric hysteresis.
3. Above ferroelectric Curic temperature, ferroelectric material becomes paraelectric
material.
4. They posses Ferro – electric domain structure.
5. They can be polarized even by very weak electric field
6. Ferroelectric materials exhibit piezoelectricity and Pyro electricity.
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7. Piezoelectricity means the creation of electric polarization by mechanical stress.

8. Pyroelectricity means the creation of electric polarization by thermal stress.
Hysteresis of Ferroelectric materials
The ferro electrics are known as non –linear dielectrics. Such materials exhibit
hysteresis curve similar to that of ferro magnetic materials.
The lagging of polarization ‘P’ behind the applied electric field E is called dielectric
hysteresis.

When a ferro – electric material is subjected to external electric field (E) the polarization
(P) increases with respect to the field applied and it reaches the maximum value ‘OA’.
If now the applied electric field is reduced, the polarization also decreases from a, and
when E becomes zero a small amount of polarization exists in the material is called
spontaneous (or) residual polarization.
In order to reduce the value of polarization to zero, a reversing electric field OC should
be applied. This field is known as coercive field.
Thus the variation of P with respect to E traced along the closed path ABCDEFA in one
full cycle of polarization and depolarization is called hysteresis or the hysteresis curve.
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Barium Titanate:
The structural changes in Barium titanate (BaTiO3) crystal due to lattice
variation give rise to Ferroelectricity.
• Above Curie temperature (approx. 120oC), BaTiO3 has a cubic crystal
structure with Barium ions are at the corners the titanium ions exactly at the
body center, and Oxygen ions are at the face centers. At those temperatures,
there is no spontaneous dipole moment. (shown in fig a)
• When the crystal is cooled below 120oC, one axis (axis C) stretches and the
other axes shrink and turn into a tetragonal crystal structure. (shown in fig b)
• In this case, polarization happens as a result of the unit shift of axially
elongated Ti- ion crystal. This polarization occurs without applying an
external electric field or pressure, and is known as "spontaneous
polarization." This characteristic is called “ferroelectricity”.

Fig
(a) Structure of BaTiO3 (b) Positions of ions below 120oC

Applications of Ferroelectrics:
1. The ferroelectric materials are used to manufacture small sized capacitors of
large capacitance.
2. They are used as memory devices in computers.
3. They are used to detect infrared radiation.
4. They are used in microphones.
5. The ferroelectrics are used to convert heat energy into electrical energy.