5.8 Characteristics of ZnO surge arresters
5.8.1 Background
Since 1968 when Matsushita Electric Co. Ltd announced the new technology of ZnO
varistors [34], many investigators have been involved in studying the properties of
ZnO in order to understand and formulate the complex process of ZnO conduction.
The importance of ZnO arresters is a consequence of their voltage–current (V –I )
characteristic, which is far closer to the ideal than that of SiC, the gapped arresters
which they have largely replaced. Figure 5.16 shows the measured field current
density (E–J ) characteristics of both ZnO and SiC materials.