Practical Notes on the Measurement and Interpretation of Thermally Stimulated Discharge Currents in Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene

Abstract

The measurement and interpretation of high-field thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) of capacitor-grade biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films are investigated in order to facilitate the derivation of trap parameters. Two main relaxations associable with the glass transition and detrapping of space charge from deep traps are observed, and their dependence on the polarization/depolarization conditions are studied. The complex bipolar nature of the space charge relaxation makes the derivation of trap parameters challenging. Lastly, a brief attempt is made to correlate the TSDC features with morphology and other short-term dielectric properties.