Preparation and charge storage property of FEP thin film electret with grid electric field distribution in millimeter scale

Abstract

Electret has caught wide attention because it can produce a lasting and stable electrostatic field in the application of MEMS devices such as miniwatt electret generator, electret motor, electret sensor, electret transducer, and so on. Of all the above applications, a remarkable feature is that the electrostatic field distribution on electret surface is patterned in millimeter size or even smaller. However, the charge storage performance of electret in miniature size will dramatically get worse in contrast with the macro-electret. Therefore, it is very important to develop an applicable preparing method to maintain the stability of electrostatic field distribution in micro-patterned electret. In this paper, it is reported that a fluorinated ethylene propylene copolymer (FEP) with evaporated aluminum grid electrode a 25 m thickness topped with at a step of 2 or 3 millimeter are successfully prepared to form the electret with well grid distribution of electric field(abbreviated as grid electret) by means of corona charging and thermal charging technology. Effect of grid width and charging temperature on the charge storage performance is studied. After stored for 150 days, the grid distribution of electric field on the FEP surface becomes clear and organized. The potentials of the area covered by aluminum electrode are close to zero, while that of uncovered area still remain high. The potential differences between the covered and uncovered by aluminum electrode area are identical in different charging methods, it is 110 V (electric field 44 kV/cm) for the sample with an electrode width of 2 mm, and 130 V (electric field 52 kV/cm) for the sample with an electrode width of 3 mm. Results also show that the initial surface potentials of the grid electrets prepared by corona charging is higher than that by thermal charging, but the former decays more rapidly. For the same charging method, the narrower the aluminum electrode area can lead to the lower initial surface potential, and the higher charging temperature causes the larger initial surface potential. According to the principle of corona charging and thermal charging technology it is concluded that the difference of charge storage capability between FEP and aluminum can account for the grid distribution of electric field on the FEP surface.