Reconsidering Conventional Field Acceleration Models

The theory developed in the previous chapters can be useful for understanding the role of charge species in dielectric breakdown. However, a more attractive feature of the model developed in Chap. 7 rests on its ability to make predictions on dielectric breakdown at low fields from data collected at high fields without needing to use empirical field acceleration formulas. In this chapter, we discuss estimates from the model and compare these with predictions from conventional field acceleration fits. The objective is to establish which empirical expression replicates this complex phenomenon the best. In essence, fundamental concepts ought to drive the predictions, not the other way around.