Publications Details

Electrical discharge across micrometer-scale gaps for planar MEMS structures in air at atmospheric pressure

Strong, Fabian W.; Skinner, Jack L.; Tien, Norman C.

We examine electrical discharge current responses across atmospheric pressure air gaps in the 2 νm to 7 νm range between planar polysilicon microstructures to determine the physical process of electrical discharge. The effect on discharge response from shape-related field enhancement is investigated through simulated field distribution and experimental current response for devices with design variations in electrode shape. Initial Townsend discharges, between 50 pA and 400 pA, transitioned to a second stage of 2 nA to 20 nA when the applied voltage increased 13% to 21% above the initial breakdown voltage. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.