Features of Electrostatic Fields and Their Force Action when Using Micro- and Nanosized Inter-Electrode Gaps

• Main Authors: Nikolai Pshchelko, Ekaterina Vodkailo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: electric field; discrete charge; electric adhesion
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/13/24/5669

The present work is devoted to assessing the influence of discreteness of electric charge distribution in the double electric layer on the characteristics of the electric fields and their force action in capacitor structures with small interelectrode gaps. Due to the fact that modern technologies often use submicron-sized interelectrode gaps, it is no longer possible to consider the electrodes uniformly charged because of the discreteness of the electric charge. The corresponding development of a mathematical and physical model for the study of a non-uniform electric field is suggested. Numerical calculations are carried out, expressions, criteria, and results that are convenient for practical evaluations are obtained. The physical and mathematical model for force characteristics of a non-uniform electric field is developed. With a sufficiently small size of the interelectrode gap, the integral force effect of discretely distributed charges can be significantly higher than with a uniform distribution of the same charge. At reasonable surface charge densities, these phenomena are usually observed at interelectrode gaps less than tenths of a micrometer.