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Application of Zinc Oxide Varistors
Author(s) -
Gupta Tapan K.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1990.tb05232.x
Subject(s) - varistor , microstructure , materials science , grain boundary , zinc , reliability (semiconductor) , engineering physics , electronic engineering , voltage , composite material , metallurgy , electrical engineering , thermodynamics , physics , engineering , power (physics)
This paper deals with the application of ZnO varistors—an area which has not been treated in a systematic way in the literature. The paper starts with a brief description of the fundamental properties comprising the electrical behavior as well as the physics, chemistry, and microstructure of the varistor. These properties then form the basis for defining the application parameters that are directly related to the nonlinear current‐voltage characteristics of the varistor. This paper provides a detailed description of these parameters and their relation to microstructure and the processing of the varistor. Finally, a discussion is presented on the reliability of the varistor by considering a grain‐boundary defect model which explains both the instability and the stability under use conditions.