Decay of electrical charges on organic synthetic polymer surfaces

Surface-charge decay of low-density polyethylene films is studied after corona charging of the polymer. Cross-over and other phenomena related to charge injection processes are not observed. The decay behavior may originate from an induced dielectric polarization in which the carriers are self-trapped or localized by the polarizing influence of their own charge. The equilibrium value of surface charge density can be established at long times by the classical laws of diffusion and field-independent drift processes.>