Thermally-stimulated conductivity and luminescence in organic polymers

Emerging trends in the interpretation of measurements of thermally stimulated conductivity (TSC), depolarization (TSD), and luminescence (TSL) in organic polymers are reviewed, in the context of charge trapping and transport. Particular attention is given to the following: (1) the advantage of making simultaneous measurements of TSL and either TSC or TSD on the same sample, (2) the determination of the forms of quasi-continuous distributions of trap activation energies, (3) the possible use of TSD to monitor aging (degradation) of polymeric insulants in power distribution cables, and hence estimate their economic service lifetimes, and (4) two recent sets of TSD measurements that have thrown new light on the crank-shaft relaxation and the glass transition in low-density polyethylene