Current Peaks Observed in Polyethylene Terephthalate Films with Linearly Increasing Voltage

Abstract

The current-voltage characteristics in polyethylene terephthalate films have been investigated by applying a slowly increasing d.c. voltage and a slowly decreasing dic. voltage. Two current peans have been observed, in the case of voltage increasing, at the tempesature above 160°C in the current-voltage characteristics. The dependences of these peaks on various factors have been investigated experimentally. The results suggest that these peaks would be associated with clean up phenomena of charge carriers. An explanation based on the clean up phenomena has been given to the appearance of current peaks. The mobilities of 1.3×10^-15 m²/V·s and 5×10^-17 m²/V·s have been estimated for two kinds of carriers at 160°C, respectively.