The use of SEM to investigate the effect of an electron beam on the optically-visible flashover treeing of MgO ceramic

Sutjipto, Agus Geter Edy and Takata, Masasuke (2007) The use of SEM to investigate the effect of an electron beam on the optically-visible flashover treeing of MgO ceramic. Journal of Materials Science, 42. pp. 6036-6040. ISSN 1573-4803 (O), 0022-2461 (P)

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Abstract

This paper introduces the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to evaluate the insulation property of insulators under electron bombardment. An SEM may be used not only to observe a surface image but also to provide a fine electron beam for charging an insulator surface simultaneously. The distribution of electric field created by the surface charging can be developed by a simple model. The increase of electric field at the surface may exceed a critical value to experience a surface breakdown/optically-visible flashover. The insulation property is evaluated by measuring the period of charging/ electron bombardment, which is needed to initiate a treeing- formation (hereinafter time to flashover treeing/TTF). In this paper, under a 25 keV primary electron beam energy and for a magnification of 5000·, a 99.95% purity polycrystalline MgO specimen resulted in 7 min TTF. It was also observed that increasing the primary beam energy and the SEM’s magnification decreased the TTF. Therefore, at for a given energy and magnification, this method can be used to evaluate the insulation property of insulators under an electron beam environment.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Additional Information:	4703/8676
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) > TA401 Materials of engineering and construction
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Engineering > Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering
Depositing User:	Dr Agus Geter Edy Sutjipto
Date Deposited:	06 Apr 2012 15:38
Last Modified:	06 Apr 2012 15:38
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/8676

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