Hot-Carrier Dynamics and Chemistry in Dielectric Polymers

Dielectric polymers are widely used in electronics and energy technologies, but their performance is severely limited by the electrical breakdown under a high electric field. Dielectric breakdown is commonly understood as an avalanche of processes such as carrier multiplication and defect generation that are triggered by field-accelerated hot electrons and holes. However, how these processes are initiated remains elusive. Here, nonadiabatic quantum molecular dynamics simulations reveal microscopic processes induced by hot electrons and holes in a slab of an archetypal dielectric polymer, polyethylene, under an electric field of 600 MV/m. We found that electronic-excitation energy is rapidly dissipated within tens of femtoseconds because of strong electron-phonon scattering, which is consistent with quantum-mechanical perturbation calculations. This in turn excites other electron-hole pairs to cause carrier multiplication. We also found that the key to chemical damage is localization of holes that travel to a slab surface and weaken carbon-carbon bonds on the surface. Such quantitative information can be incorporated into first-principles-informed, predictive modeling of dielectric breakdown.