Dielectric breakdown of PDMS thin films

Abstract

This note presents the data on the dielectric breakdown of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin films with thicknesses from 2 to 14 μm between the silicon electrodes. The results demonstrate that there is a strong dependence of the breakdown field on both the electrode gap and shape. The breakdown fields range from 250 to 635 V μm−1, depending on the electrode geometry and gap, approaching 10× the breakdown fields for air gaps of the same size. The results are critical for understanding the performance limits of PDMS thin films used in the electromechanical microsystems.