Illuminating the connection between contact angle saturation and dielectric breakdown in electrowetting through leakage current measurements

Papathanasiou, AG; Papaioannou, AT; Boudouvis, AG

dc.contributor.author	Papathanasiou, AG	en
dc.contributor.author	Papaioannou, AT	en
dc.contributor.author	Boudouvis, AG	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:28:39Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:28:39Z
dc.date.issued	2008	en
dc.identifier.issn	0021-8979	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/18897
dc.subject.classification	Physics, Applied	en
dc.subject.other	Contact angle	en
dc.subject.other	Dielectric films	en
dc.subject.other	Electric breakdown	en
dc.subject.other	Electric current measurement	en
dc.subject.other	Microelectronics	en
dc.subject.other	Thin films	en
dc.subject.other	Contact angle saturation	en
dc.subject.other	Electrowetting	en
dc.subject.other	High sensitivity current measurements	en
dc.subject.other	Leakage currents	en
dc.title	Illuminating the connection between contact angle saturation and dielectric breakdown in electrowetting through leakage current measurements	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1063/1.2837100	en
heal.identifier.secondary	034901	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2837100	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2008	en
heal.abstract	Recent findings on the connection between the dielectric breakdown strength and the contact angle saturation in electrowetting triggered further investigation of the underlying mechanisms towards reporting the consequences of the proposed relation. High sensitivity current measurements are conducted to monitor the dielectric leakage current during a standard electrowetting experiment by testing thin (15-500 nm) dielectric films of materials widely used in microelectronics industry (SiO2, tetra-ethoxy-silane, Si3N4). The measurements confirmed that the current is negligible as long as the applied, direct current, voltage is kept below a critical value at saturation onset. This current, however, exhibits a sharp increase at higher voltages. By exploiting the increased breakdown strength of stacked oxide-nitride-oxide dielectrics, the appearance of the contact angle saturation is inhibited, suggesting the use of such composites for the design of efficient electrowetting devices. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.	en
heal.publisher	AMER INST PHYSICS	en
heal.journalName	Journal of Applied Physics	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1063/1.2837100	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000253238100088	en
dc.identifier.volume	103	en
dc.identifier.issue	3	en