Self-healing breakdown of metallized polypropylene

We have studied the self-healing breakdown of metallized PP films for different values of the PP film thickness and of the surface resistance of metal layer R_s. For each event, the breakdown voltage, the electrical current pulse, the emitted light and the cleared area have been measured. From the total charge flowing in the leads of the cell, the energy supplied to the test cell during a breakdown, the cleared area and their variations with the breakdown voltage, we quantitatively determine the relative importance of the different causes of energy dissipation during a breakdown. The efficiency of self-healing according to the values of the surface resistance Rs of the films is inferred from these variations