Tantalum / Niobium / Polymer

Radiation Tolerance of Tantalum Polymer Capacitors Written By: Krystof Adamek Abstract: Environments rich in ionizing radiation create a particularly difficult functional challenge for electronic components. Spacecraft, nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, and hardened military equipment (to name a few examples) demand that their electrical systems operate correctly, even in the presence of high energy particles, photons, electrons, neutrons, protons, and the like. Such radiation adversely affects electronics in two ways: fundamentally damaging the constituent materials, and creating transient electrical signals that can impede functionality. Mechanisms of radiation induced failure in semiconductors and other active devices have been well-studied, and methods for overcoming or preventing these failures have been developed. Passive devices like inductors, resistors, and capacitors, on the other hand, are

Failure Mode Comparison of Tantalum and Niobium Oxide Capacitors Written By: George Zhang Abstract: The automotive industry has become highly dependent on advanced sensing and computing. Starting in the mid-twentieth century, the development of dense, reliable, and stable capacitors has been instrumental in advancing high speed computing and high performance electronics. The demands on these capacitors have increased substantially, requiring high-temperature tolerance, harsh environmental reliability, and ever-decreasing parasitic parameters such as equivalent series resistance (ESR) and inductance (ESL). Tantalum and niobium oxide capacitors have been two of the most notable contenders to meet these requirements. Though similar in construction, their failure modes are nuanced and require a careful understanding to ensure a successful design for a particular application.

Tantalum Capacitors for Electric Vehicles Written By: Jeff Lee Abstract: An electric vehicle is a car powered by electricity unlike internal combustion locomotives that obtain driving energy by burning fossil fuels, they rotate the motor with electricity accumulated in the battery to obtain driving energy. Electric vehicles are largely composed of on-board chargers (OBC), electric power control units (EPCUs), motors, speed reducers, and high voltage battery. The motor of an electric vehicle is a high-efficiency and high-power driving motor and has high output and rotational power. Unlike internal combustion vehicle engines, the electric motor can be made to minimize noise and vibration generation while driving.

Polymer Solid Electrolytic Capacitors for Automotive Applications Written By: Jaroslav Tomasko | Slavomir Pala Abstract: Tantalum electrolytic capacitors are constructed using a sintered pellet of powdered tantalum as the anode of the device. A grown oxide layer on the contoured surface of the pellet acts as the dielectric insulator, and a cathode terminal is formed using either a conventional MnO2 electrolyte or a conductive polymer to sufficiently contact the oxide layer. The final capacitor can be packaged in many forms, and the typical J-lead surface mount construction is shown in Figure 2. The capacitive structure is bonded to a molded case and electrically interfaced using carbon as a separation layer and silver for connection with the lead frame.

Analysis of the DC Blocking Capacitor for Stereo High-Fidelity Audio Written By: Rick Liu Abstract: The representation of audio signals in analog and digital electronics can take many forms. Still, they must ultimately be converted back to their mechanical origins as the motion of air molecules propagating as waves. These waves are generated by moving a mass, often the cone of a speaker, back and forth around a neutral position. As such, any fixed offset in the audio signal, represented by a DC bias, is simply a waste of energy and possibly a source of imbalance in the resulting sound wave. Series blocking capacitors are generally used for each audio channel to eliminate the potential of any DC component. While

Low ESR Tantalum Capacitors in Circuit Design Written By: Colin Li Abstract: Tantalum is a relatively scarce transition metal with several unique properties that make it a technology-critical element. It is highly corrosion-resistant and chemically inert. It is non-ferrous and non-magnetic, has a high melting point and density, and is extremely stiff. Most importantly, Tantalum readily forms a protective and electrically insulating oxide layer. This ability makes it an ideal candidate as the base building block of electrolytic capacitors.