Direct Observations of Field-Intensity-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown Mechanisms in TiO Single Nanocrystals.

One of the main challenges for next-generation electric power systems and electronics is to avoid premature dielectric breakdown in insulators and capacitors and to ensure reliable operations at higher electric fields and higher efficiencies. However, dielectric breakdown is a complex phenomenon and often involves many different processes simultaneously. Here we show distinctly different defect-related and intrinsic breakdown processes by studying individual, single-crystalline TiO nanoparticles using transmission electron microscopy (TEM).