BASICS OF CAPACITORS

1. Capacitance of capacitors

Dielectric A capacitor is so designed that a dielectric is sandwiched between two electrodes

Electrode as shown in Fig. 1. The capacitance (C) is expressed as:

S
εr : specific dielectric constant.εo : dielectric constant of vacuum (8.85 × 10-12F/m)
d : distance between electrodes (m). S : electrode surface (m2)
d

Fig1 Basic structure of capacitor

2. Ranges of capacitance and operating voltage of various capacitors

pF nF mF F
Capacitance 1 10 100 1 10 100 1 10 100 1 10 100 1

Aluminum electrolytic
Tantalum electrolytic
Niobium electrolytic
Multilayer ceramic
Film

Operating voltage 1 10 100 1000 V.DC

Aluminum electrolytic
Tantalum electrolytic
Niobium electrolytic
Multilayer ceramic
Film

3. Characteristics of various capacitors

Aluminum Film Tantalum Niobium Ceramic

Aluminum oxide Polyester, Tantalum pentoxide Niobium pentoxide Based on barium titanate,
Dielectric
(Al2O3) polypropylene, etc. (Ta2O5) (Nb2O5) etc.

Specific 1500∼15000
dielectric 8∼10 2.1∼3.1 27 41
constant (barium titanate)

Screw terminal type, Chip type Chip type

Dip type (main power),
Shape Snap mount type, (main power) Chip type (main power),
For SMD. case type
Radial type, chip type Dip type dip type
• Good characteristics • Small and • Small and
• Small-size
• Cheap • Can be made for comparatively large comparatively large
Advanta (particularly
• Small-size and low- to high-voltage capacitance capacitance
ges multilayer types)
large-capacity applications • Semi-permanent • Semi-permanent
• No polarity
• High reliability service life service life
• Short service life in • Great changes in
• To be used with • To be used with
hot environment capacitance due to
Disadva • Large outside some voltage some voltage
• Large capacitance changes in
ntages dimensions leeway leeway
tolerance temperature and DC
• Polarity • Polarity
• Polarity voltage

3 Hitachi AIC Inc.