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Engineering Electromagnetics: Conductors and Dielectrics

1. The document summarizes key concepts about conductors, dielectrics, and the behavior of electric fields at boundaries between different materials. 2. It describes how electric charge exists only on the surface of conductors and how the electric field is zero inside and tangential to the surface. 3. For dielectrics, it explains polarization fields from electric dipoles and how dielectric properties depend on electric susceptibility and the dielectric constant.

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176 views30 pages

Engineering Electromagnetics: Conductors and Dielectrics

1. The document summarizes key concepts about conductors, dielectrics, and the behavior of electric fields at boundaries between different materials. 2. It describes how electric charge exists only on the surface of conductors and how the electric field is zero inside and tangential to the surface. 3. For dielectrics, it explains polarization fields from electric dipoles and how dielectric properties depend on electric susceptibility and the dielectric constant.

Uploaded by

Bharat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Engineering Electromagnetics

W.H. Hayt Jr. and J. A. Buck

Chapter 5:
Conductors and Dielectrics

Current and Current Density


Electric charges in motion constitute a current, defined as a rate of movement of charge passing a given
reference point (or crossing a given reference plane) of one coulomb per second.
Current is a flux quantity and is defined as:

Current density, J, measured in Amps/m2 , yields current in Amps when


it is integrated over a cross-sectional area. The assumption would be
that the direction of J is normal to the surface, and so we would write:

Current Density as a Vector Field


In reality, the direction of current flow may not be normal to the surface in question, so we treat
current density as a vector, and write the incremental flux through the small surface in the usual way:

where S = n da
n

Then, the current through a large surface


is found through the flux integral:

Relation of Current to Charge Velocity


Consider a charge Q, occupying volume v, moving in the positive x direction at velocity vx
In terms of the volume charge density, we may write:

Suppose that in time t, the charge moves through a distance x = L = vx t


Then
The motion of the charge represents a current given by:

or

Relation of Current Density to Charge Velocity


We now have

The current density is then:

So that in general:

Continuity of Current
Suppose that charge Qi is escaping from a volume through closed
surface S, to form current density J. Then the total current for closed
surface is

The outward flow of positive charge must be balanced by a


decrease of positive charge (or perhaps an increase of negative
charge) within the closed surface. If the charge inside the closed
surface is denoted by Qi , then the rate of decrease isdQi /dt

where the minus sign is needed to produce positive outward


flux, while the interior charge is decreasing with time.

Qi(t)

We now apply the divergence theorem:

Qi(t)

so that

or

The integrands of the last expression


must be equal, leading to the
Equation of Continuity

Energy Band Structure in Three Material Types

a)
b)
c)

Conductors exhibit no energy gap between valence and conduction bands so electrons move freely
Insulators show large energy gaps, requiring large amounts of energy to lift electrons into the conduction band
When this occurs, the dielectric breaks down.
Semiconductors have a relatively small energy gap, so modest amounts of energy (applied through heat, light,
or an electric field) may lift electrons from valence to conduction bands.

Electron Flow in Conductors


Free electrons move under the influence of an electric field. The applied force on an electron
of charge Q = -e will be

When forced, the electron accelerates to an equilibrium velocity, known as the drift velocity:

where e is the electron mobility, expressed in units of m2/V-s. The drift velocity is used to find the
current density through:

The expression:
from which we identify the conductivity
for the case of electron flow :
In a semiconductor, we have hole current as well, and

S/m
is Ohms Law in point form

Resistance
Consider the cylindrical conductor shown here, with voltage V applied across the ends. Current flows
down the length, and is assumed to be uniformly distributed over the cross-section, S.
First, we can write the voltage and current in the cylinder in terms of field quantities:

Using Ohms Law:

We find the resistance of the cylinder:

General Expression for Resistance

Electrostatic Properties of Conductors


Consider a conductor, on
which excess charge has been placed

+
+

+ + +
+
+

+
+ s
solid conductor
E = 0 inside
+
+
+
+
+
+ + + + +

Electric field at the surface


points in the normal direction

1.

Charge can exist only on the surface as a surface charge density, s -- not in the interior.

2.

Electric field cannot exist in the interior, nor can it possess a tangential component at the surface
(as will be shown next slide).

3.

It follows from condition 2 that the surface of a conductor is an equipotential.

Tangential Electric Field Boundary Condition


Over the rectangular integration path, we use

or

To find:

These become negligible as h approaches zero.


dielectric
Therefore

More formally:
conductor

Boundary Condition for the Normal Component of D


Gauss Law is applied to the cylindrical surface shown below:

This reduces to:

dielectric

as h approaches zero

Therefore

n
More formally:

conductor

Summary

Tangential E is zero

At the surface:
Normal D is equal to the surface charge density

Electric Dipole and Dipole Moment


In dielectric, charges are held in position (bound), and ideally there are no free charges that can move
and form a current. Atoms and molecules may be polar (having separated positive and negative charges),
or may be polarized by the application of an electric field.
Consider such a polarized atom or molecule, which possesses a dipole moment, p, defined as the charge
magnitude present, Q, times the positive and negative charge separation, d. Dipole moment is a vector
that points from the negative to the positive charge.

p = Qd ax

Model of a Dielectric
A dielectric can be modeled as an ensemble of bound charges in free space, associated with
the atoms and molecules that make up the material. Some of these may have intrinsic dipole moments,
others not. In some materials (such as liquids), dipole moments are in random directions.

Polarization Field
The number of dipoles is
expressed as a density, n
dipoles per unit volume.
The Polarization Field of the
medium is defined as:

[dipole moment/vol]
or
[C/m2]

Polarization Field (with Electric Field


Applied)
Introducing an electric field may increase the charge separation in each dipole, and possibly re-orient dipoles so that
there is some aggregate alignment, as shown here. The effect is small, and is greatly exaggerated here!

E
The effect is to increase P.

= np
if all dipoles are identical

Migration of Bound Charge


Consider an electric field applied at an angle to a surface normal as shown. The resulting
separation of bound charges (or re-orientation) leads to positive bound charge crossing upward
through surface of area S, while negative bound charge crosses downward through the surface.
Dipole centers (red dots) that lie within the range (1/2) d cos above or below
the surface will transfer charge across the surface.

Bound Charge Motion as a Polarization Flux


The total bound charge that crosses the surface is given by:

S
volume

Polarization Flux Through a Closed Surface


The accumulation of positive bound charge within a closed
surface means that the polarization vector must be pointing
inward. Therefore:
S
-

+
+

+
+ qb

Bound and Free Charge


Now consider the charge within the closed surface
consisting of bound charges, qb , and free charges, q.
The total charge will be the sum of all bound and free
charges. We write Gauss Law in terms of the total
charge, QT as:

where

free charge

QT = Qb + Q
bound charge

E
QT
S

q+ + +
+
+
+
+
+q
b

Gauss Law for Free Charge


We now have:
and

where

QT = Q b + Q

combining these, we write:

we thus identify:

which we use in the familiar form


of Gauss Law:

Charge Densities
Taking the previous results and using the divergence theorem, we find the point form expressions:

Bound Charge:

Total Charge:

Free Charge:

Electric Susceptibility and the Dielectric Constant


A stronger electric field results in a larger polarization in the medium. In a linear medium, the relation
between P and E is linear, and is given by:

where e is the electric susceptibility of the medium.

We may now write:


where the dielectric constant, or relative permittivity is defined as:

Leading to the overall permittivity of the medium:

where

Isotropic vs. Anisotropic Media


In an isotropic medium, the dielectric constant is invariant with direction of the applied electric field.

This is not the case in an anisotropic medium (usually a crystal) in which the dielectric constant will vary
as the electric field is rotated in certain directions. In this case, the electric flux density vector components
must be evaluated separately through the dielectric tensor. The relation can be expressed in the form:

Boundary Condition for Tangential Electric Field


We use the fact that E is conservative:
n
So therefore:

Region 1
1
Region 2
2

Leading to:

More formally:

Boundary Condition for Normal Electric Flux


Density
We apply Gauss Law to the cylindrical volume shown here,
in which cylinder height is allowed to approach zero, and there
is charge density s on the surface:

Region 1
1
Region 2
2

The electric flux enters and exits only through the bottom and top surfaces, respectively.

More formally:
From which:

and if the charge density is zero:

Example of the Use of Dielectric Boundary


Conditions
We wish to find the relation between the angles 1 and 2, assuming no charge density on the surface.
The normal components of D will be continuous across
the boundary, so that:

Then, with tangential E continuous across the


boundary, it follows that:

Now, taking the ratio of the two underlined


equations, we finally obtain:
or

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