Thermally switchable dielectrics
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorsShawn M. Dirk, Ross S. Johnson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Precursor polymers to conjugated polymers, such as poly(phenylene vinylene), poly(poly(thiophene vinylene), poly(aniline vinylene), and poly(pyrrole vinylene), can be used as thermally switchable capacitor dielectrics that fail at a specific temperature due to the non-conjugated precursor polymer irreversibly switching from an insulator to the conjugated polymer, which serves as a bleed resistor. The precursor polymer is a good dielectric until it reaches a specific temperature determined by the stability of the leaving groups. Conjugation of the polymer backbone at high temperature effectively disables the capacitor, providing a ‘built-in’ safety mechanism for electronic devices.
Claims15
A thermally switchable dielectric comprising a non-conjugated precursor polymer having a leaving group that eliminates upon heating to a specified temperature, thereby converting the non-conjugated precursor polymer from an insulator to an electrically conductive conjugated polymer, wherein the leaving group comprises a halogen.
A thermally switchable dielectric comprising a non-conjugated precursor polymer having a leaving group that eliminates upon heating to a specified temperature, thereby converting the non-conjugated precursor polymer from an insulator to an electrically conductive conjugated polymer, wherein the non-conjugated precursor polymer comprises poly[(2,3-diphenyl-p-phenylene)(2-halo-ethylene)] and wherein the leaving group comprises a halogen.
A capacitor comprising a thermally switchable dielectric between two electrodes that fails at a specific elevated temperature, wherein the thermally switchable dielectric comprises a non-conjugated precursor polymer having a leaving group that eliminates upon heating to the specific elevated temperature, thereby converting the non-conjugated polymer precursor from an insulator to an electrically conductive conjugated polymer, wherein the leaving group comprises a halogen.
A capacitor comprising a thermally switchable dielectric between two electrodes that fails at a specific elevated temperature, wherein the thermally switchable dielectric comprises a non-conjugated precursor polymer having a leaving group that eliminates upon heating to the specific elevated temperature, thereby converting the non-conjugated polymer precursor from an insulator to an electrically conductive conjugated polymer, wherein the non-conjugated precursor polymer comprises poly[(2,3-diphenyl-p-phenylene)(2-halo-ethylene)] and wherein the leaving group comprises a halogen.
A method for thermally switching a capacitor, comprising:
- providing a capacitor comprising a thermally switchable dielectric between two electrodes, wherein the thermally switchable polymer comprises a non-conjugated precursor polymer having a leaving group that eliminates at a specific elevated temperature, and
- heating the capacitor to the specific elevated temperature wherein the dielectric fails due to the non-conjugated precursor polymer converting from an insulator to an electrically conductive conjugated polymer,
- wherein the non-conjugated precursor polymer comprises poly[(2,3-diphenyl-p-phenylene)(2-halo-ethylene)] and wherein the halo—comprises chloro-, bromo-, or iodo-.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.