Capacitors Blog

Suntan Technology Company Limited
---All Kinds of Capacitors

Suntan Technology Company Limited
---All Kinds of Capacitors

Effect of Frequency: Frequency affects both capacitance and dissipation factor..

The variation of impedance with frequency is an important consideration in the application of multilayer ceramic capacitors. Total impedance of the capacitor is the vector of the capacitive reactance, the inductive reactance, and the ESR. As frequency increases, the capacitive reactance decreases. However, the series inductance (L)  produces inductive reactance, which increases with frequency. At some frequency, the impedance ceases to be capacitive and becomes inductive. This point, at the bottom of the V-shaped impedance versus frequency curves, is the self-resonant frequency. At the self-resonant frequency, the reactance is zero, and the impedance consists of the ESR only.

Suntan Technology Company Limited
----All Kinds of Capacitors

A vacuum variable capacitor uses a high vacuum as the dielectric instead of air or other insulating material. This allows for a higher voltage rating and/or capacitance value using a smaller total volume. In addition to the higher voltage rating a vacuum dielectric greatly reduces the chance of arcing between the plates. There are several different designs in vacuum variables, the most common geometry of the capacitor plates is usually inter-meshed concentric cylinders. The meshed cylinders are contained within a glass or ceramic vacuum envelope, similar to an electron tube. A metal bellows is used to maintain a vacuum seal while allowing positional control for the moving parts of the capacitor.

Common Applications

Vacuum variable capacitors are commonly used in high voltage applications 5000 volts(5kV) and above. They are used in equipment such as high powered broadcast transmitters, Amateur radio RF Amplifiers and large Antenna tuners.

Other Variations

A fixed value vacuum capacitor. Other variations of vacuum capacitors include fixed value capacitors. Fixed value capacitors are designed very much like the variable versions with the exception of an adjustment mechanism.

Comparison

When compared to other variable capacitors vacuum variables tend to be more precise and more stable. This is due to the vacuum itself. Because of the sealed chamber the dielectric constant remains the same over a wider range of operating conditions. With air Variable capacitors the air moving around the plates may change the value slightly; often it’s not much but in some applications is enough to cause undesirable effects. Another common problem with air variables is dust and insects. Dust collected on the plates or a curious insect can raise havoc. A wandering spider is bound to make fireworks with the open frame design used on most air variable capacitors.

Vacuum variable capacitors are generally more expensive than Air Variable Capacitors this is primarily due to their design and the materials used. Although most use copper and glass some may use other materials such as ceramics and metals such as gold and silver. Vacuum variables also vary in adjustment mechanisms which range from course to fine.

Suntan is a Hong Kong based manufacturer of Ceramic Capacitors. Including High Voltage Ceramic Capacitors, Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors, Ceramic Disc Capacitor, Mini Type Ceramic Capacitors etc.

Suntan Technology Company Limited
----All Kinds of Capacitors

Dipped Ceramic Capacitors. The simplest ceramic capacitor consists of a square or circular shaped ceramic with electrodes attached (see figure). The capacitance is given by 

where A is the area of the two plates,  is the dielectric permittivity of vacuum, Kd is the dielectric's dielectric constant and d is the distance between the two plates.http://www.capacitors.hk/Ceramic-Capacitors/

Suntan Technology Company Limited
----All Kinds of Capacitors

MLC capacitors are marvels of modern material science. Manufacturing MLC capacitors is considerably more complicated than manufacturing dipped ceramic capacitors. First, the base ceramic material is mixed with a binder and fashioned into thin sheets. Electrodes are painted onto one side of the sheets using a paint that consists of a liquid binder with fine metal particles in suspension. The metals that are used include gold, palladium, platinum, and silver alloys. The reason for using these metals is that when the base ceramic is fired, oxygen is required for the ceramic proper to form. If one uses a metal such as iron, for example, it would oxidize completely during the firing process.Precious metals do not have this problem, but is a major cost component of monolithic ceramic capacitors. However, recently some manufacturers have reported using nickel and copper for the electrodes. This promises to reduce the cost of the raw materials, but at the expense of more elaborate manufacturing processes.

Once the ink is dry, the sheets are stacked on top of each other. The painted electrodes are arranged so that alternate electrodes exit from opposite ends. The top and bottom most layers do not have painted electrodes. The laminated layers are then compressed and fired, which sinters them into one monolithic structure.

Next, the ends are terminated, often using silver. For leaded capacitors, wires are attached, and finally the capacitor is encapsulated in plastic and marked. In the case of chip capacitors, the silver end terminations are covered with tin to aid soldering. The whole capacitor may be covered with lacquer.