Floated backing electrode effects on peeling electrostatic discharge between a charged dielectric film and a metal thin film

The peeling electrostatic discharge phenomena and backing electrode effect on it was observed in detail. A corona-charged dielectric film (mainly 60 μm thick polypropylene) surface with floated backing thin electrode at a portion, is covered with a metal thin film which is peeled gradually later. A very strong electrostatic discharge occurs when the metal just separates from the charged film at the end of the backing electrode. Strong and very high frequency electromagnetic noise (space propagating wave) is recorded. The polarity of a charged surface (for example negative) is changed when the backing electrode is floated. At the initial removal motion of the metal thin film with a constant velocity of 22 cm/min, very weak electrostatic discharges occur in a few millimeter intervals that is recognized by a fine dust figure method after a peeling process. A surface potential profile measurement, by a computer controlled automatic system with poor resolution of 1 mm, also shows some such traces as zigzag patterns. Thermally stimulated discharge currents (TSDC) analysis of a such peeling-discharged film suggests the existance of such reverse charging on and in the polymer film. A homocurrent peak at 75°C is newly observed by the peeling effect for polypropylene. For high temperature peaks, the peeling effect is not so strong indicating the peeling effect is dominant only on the film surface