A dielectric material is a superconductor that is a poor conductor of

electricity ,but an efficient supporter of electrostatic field. If the flow poles

of current between opposite electric charge poles is kept to a minimum
while the electrostatic lines of flux are not interrupted, an electrostatic
field can store energy .This property is useful in capacitors, especially at
radio frequencies . Dielectric materials are also used in the construction of
radio-frequency transmission lines.
An important property of dielectrics is its ability to support an electrostatic
field while dissipating minimal energy in the form of heat. The lower the
dielectric loss(the property of energy lost as heat ) , the more effective is a
dielectric material .Another consideration is a dielectric constant , the
extent to which a substance concentrates the electrostatic lines of flux .
Substances with a low dielectric constant include a perfect vacuum , dry air
and most pure, dry gases such as helium and nitrogen. Materials with
moderate dielectric constants include ceramics , distilled water ,paper mica
, polyethylene , and glass. Metal oxides, in general , have high dielectric
constants.
Polarization, capacitance and dielectric constant
h

p
p

Dipoles and surface charges in a polarized dielectric

Dipole moment Qd
Polarization P N (dipole moment per unit volume)
Dielectric displacement D E P (0 is the vacuum permittivity)
0

Surface charge density T 0E P

For a linear dielectric
P e 0 E T 1 e 0 E (e is the electric susceptibility)
QT T A T A
1 e 0 ; C r 0
A A A
Capacitance C
U U Eh h h h

Permittivity 0 1 e
r 1 e
Relative permittivity (or dielectric constant) 0
 Dielectric losses results from the heating effect on the dielectric
material between the conductors. Power from the source is used in the
dielectric. The heat produced is dissipated into the surrounding
medium. When there is no potential difference between two
conductors, the atoms in the dielectric material between them are
normal and the orbits of the electron are circular. When there is
potential difference between two conductors , the orbits of electrons
change. The excessive negative charge on one conductor repels
electrons on the dielectric toward the positive conductor and thus
distorts the orbits of the electrons. A change in the path of electrons
requires more energy, introducing a power loss.
The atomic structure of rubber is more difficult to distort
than the structure of some other dielectric materials . The atoms of
materials such as polyethylene distort easily. Therefore , polyethylene
is often used as a dielectric because less power is consumed when its
electron orbits are distorted.
Dielectric losses
IC: 90 in
advance of

Current
Angular frequency
U
=2f = 2/T

Il: in phase with U

Voltage
Ideal capacitor: 90 Real capacitor: <90 phase difference
phase difference between I and U.
between I and U, no Ic: charging current (capacitative
dissipation component)
Il: loss current, dissipative comp., power
1 1 loss2
P
Power dissipated per unit time W U 0 I c tan U 0 C tan
2 2
tan: dissipation factor
PW 1 2
Dissipated power density E 0 0 r tan or loss tangent
V 2 rtan: loss factor
PW 1 2
E 0 ac PW
V 2 By analogy with dc current E 2
V

Dielectric or ac conductivity ac 0 r tan

 An efficient dielectric supports a varying charge with minimal
dissipation of energy in the form of heat. There are two main forms of
loss that may dissipate energy within dielectric. In conduction loss, a
flow of charge through the material causes energy dissipation.
Dielectric loss is the dissipation of energy through the movement of
charges in an alternating electromagnetic field as polarisation switches
direction.
Dielectric loss is especially high around the relaxation or resonance
frequencies of the polarisation mechanisms as the polarisation lags
behind the applied field, causing an interaction between the field and
the dielectrics polarisation that results in heating. This is illustrated by
the diagram below

 Dielectric loss is utilised to heat food in a microwave oven: the

frequency of the microwaves used is close to the relaxation frequency
of the orientational polarisation mechanism in water, meaning that
any water present absorbs a lot of energy that is then dissipated as heat
. The exact frequency used is slightly away from the frequency at which
maximum dielectric loss occurs in water to ensure that the microwaves
are not all absorbed by the first layer of water they encounter, therefore
allowing more even heating of the food.
 Dielectric loss, a loss of energy that goes into heating a dielectric
material in a varying electric field. For example- a CAPACITOR
incorporated in an alternating-current circuit is alternatively charged
and discharged each half cycle. During the alternation of polarity of
the plates , the charges must be displaced through the dielectric first
in one direction and then in the other , and overcoming the opposition
that they encounter leads to a production of heat through dielectric
loss ,a characteristic that must be considered when applying capacitors
to electric circuits , such as those in radio and television receivers .
Dielectric loss depend in frequency and the dielectric material.
Heating through dielectric loss is widely employed industrially for
heating thermosetting glues , for drying lumber and other fibrous
materials , for preheating plastics before molding and for fast drying of
foam rubber.
The dielectric loss factor of capacitor shows that the insulation between
the two poles is insufficient. A capacitor has an ohmic component that
causes it to heat up at high current levels. However , not all capacitors
react the same way . There are great differences in the dielectric loss
factor. Metallised capacitors , for example , have a lower dielectric loss
factor than electrolytic capacitors. Since a poor dielectric loss can have
a negative effect on the sound properties , it is important to use low-
loss capacitors wherever possible . However , if the dielectric loss factor
is included in the sound tuning activities, changing one capacitor for a
different one with a lower loss factor will not necessarily mean the
sound properties improve.
 A major use of dielectrics is in fabricating capacitors. These have many
uses including storage of energy in the dielectric field between the
plates, filtering out noise from signals as part of a resonant circuit ,and
supplying a burst of power to another component . The TLP on
ferroelectrics show s how the last of these functions is utilised in a
camera flash system.
Some applications of dielectrics rely on their electrically insulating
properties rather than ability to store charge , so high electrical
resistivity and low dielectric loss are the most desirable properties here.
The most obvious of these uses is insulation for wires , cables etc, but
there are also applications in sensor devices. For example it is
impossible to make a type of strain by evaporating a small number of
metal into the surface of a thin sheet of dielectric material.
Figure---------
 Electron may travel across the metal by normal conduction, and
through the intervening dielectric material by a phenomenon known
as quantum tunnelling. A mathematical treatment of this
phenomenon is outside the scope of this TLP ; simply note that it
allows particles to travel between two permitted regions that are
separated by a forbidden region and that the extent to which
tunnelling occurs decreases sharply as distance between the permitted
regions increases. In this case the permitted regions are the solidified
metal droplets and the forbidden region is the high-resistance
dielectric material.
If the dielectric material is strained , it will bow causing the distance
between the metal islands to change. This has a large impact on the
extent to which electrons can tuned between the islands, and thus a
large change in current is observed. Therefore the above device makes
an effective strain gauge.
Dielectrics are electrical insulators that support charge.
The properties of dielectrics are due to polarisation.
There are three main mechanisms by which polarisation arises on the microscope
scale ; electronic(distortion of the electron cloud in an atom) ionic(movement
of ions)and orientational (rotation of permanent dipoles).
A capacitor is a device that stores charge, usually with the aid of dielectric
material. Its capacitance is defined by Q=CV
The dielectric constant indicates the ability of the dielectric to polarise.
The dielectric constant is also affected by structure , as this affects ability of the
material to polarise.
Polar dielectrics show a decrease in the dielectric constant as temperature
increases.
Sufficiently high electric fields can cause a material to undergo dielectric
breakdown and became conducting.