Using Liquid Electrolytes in Dielectric Reliability Studies

In reliability studies, thin dielectric films are normally placed between two solid electrodes and a potential difference is applied, which produces local physical changes in the dielectric. However, studying such features is very complex due to the need of etching one of the solid electrodes. Here we show that liquid electrolytes can be used to study the reliability of thin dielectrics. Their main advantage is that after the electrical stress, the liquid can be rinsed, exposing the surface for direct characterization.