Extended Mie-Grüneisen molecular model for time dependent dielectric breakdown in silica detailing the critical roles of $O–SiO3$ tetragonal bonding, stretched bonds, hole capture, and hydrogen release Available to Purchase

An extended Mie-Grüneisen molecular model is presented, which describes a bond-breakage process for $O–SiO3$ tetragonal molecules in silica and the trap-generation process that occurs during time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) testing. This quantitative molecular model correctly describes important physics routinely reported for silica TDDB testing: the generation of $E′$ centers, a breakdown strength of $Ebd∼15MV∕cm$⁠, an effective dipole-moment range of $peff=7–13eÅ$⁠, and a zero-field activation energy range for bond breakage of $ΔHo*=1−2eV$⁠. The bond-breakage/trap-generation mechanism is shown to occur when the Si ion transitions from its primary energy minimum (with fourfold coordination) to a secondary saddle point (with threefold coordination). The molecular model also shows clearly that current induced hole capture and hydrogen release can play critically important roles in the TDDB process.