insulating state. Lightning and sparks due to static electricity are natural examples of the electrical breakdown of air. Electrical breakdown is part of the normal operating mode of a number of electrical components, such as gas discharge lamps like fluorescent lights, and neon lights, zener diodes, avalanche diodes, IMPATT diodes, mercury-vapor rectifiers, thyratron, ignitron, and krytron tubes, and spark plugs. Failure of electrical insulation Electrical breakdown is often associated with the failure of solid or liquid insulating materials used inside high voltage transformers or capacitors in the electricity distribution grid, usually resulting in a short circuit or a blown fuse. Electrical breakdown can also occur across the insulators that suspend overhead power lines, within underground power cables, or lines arcing to nearby branches of trees. Dielectric breakdown is also important in the design of integrated circuits and other solid state electronic devices. Insulating layers in such devices are designed to withstand normal operating voltages, but higher voltage such as from static electricity may destroy these layers, rendering a device useless. The dielectric strength of capacitors limits how much energy can be stored and the safe working voltage for the device. Mechanism Breakdown mechanisms differ in solids, liquids, and gases. Breakdown is influenced by electrode material, sharp curvature of conductor material (resulting in locally intensified electric fields), the size of the gap between the electrodes, and the density of the material in the gap. Solids In solid materials (such as in power cables) a long-time partial discharge typically precedes breakdown, degrading the insulators and metals nearest to the voltage gap. Ultimately the partial discharge chars through a channel of carbonized material that conducts current across the gap. Liquids Possible mechanisms for breakdown in liquids include bubbles, small impurities, and electrical super-heating. The process of breakdown in liquids is complicated by hydrodynamic effects, since additional pressure is exerted on the fluid by the non-linear electrical field strength in the gap between the electrodes. In liquefied gases used as coolants for superconductivity – such as Helium at 4.2 K or Nitrogen at 77 K – bubbles can induce breakdown. In oil-cooled and oil-insulated transformers the field strength for breakdown is about 20 kV/mm (as compared to 3 kV/mm for dry air). Despite the purified oils used, small particle contaminants are blamed. Gases Electrical breakdown occurs within a gas when the dielectric strength of the gas is exceeded. Regions of intense voltage gradients can