L2.

THE STUDY OF MATERIALS FOR CAPACITORS

1. Aim
The aim of this paper is:
• To identify the type and the characteristics of used materials in the structure of
capacitors;
• To identify the constructive types and the structure of a batch of capacitors which exist
in the laboratory;
• Tolerance verification for the batch of capacitors from the laboratory.

2. Theoretical appearance

Capacitors are passive circuit components which have the aim to heap electrical energy and
to distribute it in electrical and electronic circuits, according to particular requirements. They
are used in various applications:
- coupling/ uncoupling of time variable signals;
- blocking of continuous component in straightening circuits;
- tension and alternate current wave- type smoothing (signal filtering);
- establishment of time constants;
- power factor compensation etc.

If we apply a voltage U to the terminal of capacitor, then one of the armatures collects a
positive charge +Q, and the other one a negative charge –Q. The relation between this charge
and applied voltage defines the electrical capacitance of capacitor, measured in farads (F).
Q
C= (2.1)
U
The higher accumulated quantity of charges Q to the armatures, the bigger stocked energy in
capacitor We, according to relation:
C ⋅U 2
We = (2.2)
2
where, We is the cumulated energy, measured in joules (J), C is the capacitance of capacitor,
measured in farads (F), and U is the applied voltage to the terminals of capacitor, measured in
volts (V).
Because the farad unity measure (F) is too big, in practice we use submultiples of farad.

Prefix Symbol Order of magnitude Farad equivalent

Picofarad pF 10-12 0.000000000001 F
Nanofarad nF 10-9 0.000000001 F
Microfarad µF 10-6 0.000001 F
Milifarad mF 10-3 0.001 F

In practice, for obtaining the desired values for capacitors and work voltage, we bind in series
or in parallel the capacitors (Fig. 2.1).
 Series binding capacitors Parallel binding capacitors
Fig. 2.1. Equivalent capacitance for series binding and for parallel binding

2.1. Dielectric materials for capacitors

The components of a capacitor are: the armatures, the dielectric and the terminals (Fig. 2.2).
- Armatures are made from conducting materials which resistivity have to be as little as it
can, for example: copper, aluminum, silver etc. The form of armatures depends on the
constructive form of capacitors and of realizing technology. There are flat, coiled,
cylindrical and other sorts of capacitors.
- Dielectric is realized from solid, liquid or gaseous materials of which electric permittivity
εr is required to be greater and more stable in relation with temperature, humidity, wave
frequency, etc.
- Terminals are realized from double copper conductors which are tinned by different
diameters according to gauge of conductor.

Standard capacitor (1) and polarized capacitor (2)

Flat capacitor structure
representation. Tension regulation circuit application (3)
Fig. 2.2. The components, the symbol and the application of standard and polarized
capacitor

The capacitance C of capacitor is bigger as armature distance is smaller and the conductive
armature surface is bigger.
In the case of capacitor with parallel- flat armatures (Fig. 2.2), with the distance between
armatures d and the surface of armatures A, the expression which is used to calculate the
capacitance of flat capacitor is:
ε⋅A
C= (2.3)
d
where ε is the absolute permittivity of the dielectric disposed between the armatures of
capacitor, defined by the relation:
ε = ε0 ⋅ ε r (2.4)
-9 -12
where ε0 = 1/(4π·9·10 ) F/m = 8.854·10 F/m represents an universal constant called
vacuum permittivity, and εr is the relative permittivity of dielectric material, which is an
dimensionless parameter.
Relation (2.3) emphasizes that we could obtain a bigger capacitance by conveniently choosing
of the capacitor geometry (d and A) and by use of performant dielectric materials.
In the table below we present the more frequently used dielectric materials like dielectric
capacitors measured at 1 kHz frequency and at 20ºC.

Dielectric Relative electric permittivity, εr

Air 1,00035
Glass 3,5 ÷ 10,0
Politetrafluoretileno (PTFE – 2,1
teflon)
Polyethylene (PE) 2,5
Polypropylene (PP) 2,2 ÷ 2,36
Polystyrene (PS) 2,4 ÷ 2,7
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) 86 ÷ 173
Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) 310
Barium titanate (BaTiO3) 1250 ÷ 10.000 (it depends by
temperature)
Polymeric compounds 1,6 ÷ 106 (depending on the compounds)

Polymeric compounds used as dielectric capacitors increase the capacitance values by 106
times compared with the case when the capacitor contains air. So, it increases the capacitance
to accumulate the electric charge per unit volume of capacitor.
Note
- We describe an ideal capacitor (capacitor) only by its capacitance, although, in reality,
the terminal bind conductors determine the apparition of some parasite conductance
and inductance.
- If the dielectric is not a good electric insulator (it has a little resistivity), there appear
leaking currents between armatures which reduce the performance of capacitor. Also,
if we exceed the limit value of the intensity of electric field which is established
between armatures (called dielectric rigidity Estr), we produce the penetration of
dielectric from capacitor (the electric insulation between armatures disappears and the
dielectric conduction current increases).

2.2. Constructive types of capacitors

We do the capacitor classification using different criteria:
• By way of construction:
fixed capacitors, where the value is established in the manufacturing process;
adjustable capacitors, where the value could be modified in the usage process,
between certain limits;
• By the way of dielectric:
air capacitors;
wood capacitors;
plastic foil capacitors;
ceramic capacitors;
mica capacitors;
glass capacitors;
metallic oxide capacitors;
etc.
• By the value of nominal tension:
low voltage capacitors (U<500V),
high voltage capacitors (U>500V).

In Fig. 2.3 are presented the usual types of capacitors

Air adjustable capacitor Ceramic capacitors Plastic film capacitor

Electronic tantalum
Mica capacitors Supercapacitor
capacitor
Fig. 2.3. Usual types of capacitors

Air capacitors
Air capacitors use the air as dielectric (Fig. 2.3). More usually are used the air capacitors with
variable capacitance, obtained at linear or circular displacement of an armature given to a
fixed one. The overlapping surfaces is bigger, the capacitance is greater. These capacitors
present less capacitance value, usually 100 pF ÷ 1 nF. The applications are linked to accord
radio circuits.

Ceramic capacitors
Ceramic capacitors use as dielectric the capacitor ceramic, its geometrical for being the flat
one or the tubular one, with single layer or multiple layer disposal of the conducting part (Fig.
2.3).
Ceramic of capacitor is a mixture of magnesium silicate, aluminum, corundum,
zirconium etc., where we add, according to desired permittivity:
- magnesium or calcium titanate (ceramic materials of the first group) which have
the relative permittivity between 5 ÷200,
- barium or strontium zirconnates and titanates (ceramic materials of the second group)
which have the relative permittivity up to 15.000.
The most common ones are ceramic capacitors of disk type (ceramic disc capacitor) and of
multi-layer type (ceramic multi-layer chip capacitors - MLCC).
Disk type ceramic capacitor is obtained by disposing on a ceramic disk of conducting
armatures and of metallic terminals (Fig. 2.4). The value of capacitance of these capacitors is
placed between 10 pF ÷ 100 μF.
Multi-layer ceramic capacitor is produced by alternating dispose of para and ferroelectric
(dielectric) material granules and material foil conductor where we add the terminals. It takes
place the covering of a protecting layer and the sintering. It results a capacitor made form
parallel bind little capacitors (Fig. 2.4).

Multi-layer flat capacitor

Single layer disk capacitor Single layer flat capacitor
with insertion terminals
Fig. 2.4. Single and multi- layer ceramic capacitor structure

These capacitors are not polarisable, so they could be connected without problems in alternate
current circuits. Have good frequency response due to lack of some parasitic data or of proper
inductance (which have reduced values).
Referring to precision and tolerance of ceramic capacitors, we produce nowadays two classes
of ceramic capacitors:
- Class 1 of capacitors – these are used when high stability and low loss are required; they
have high precision, so little tolerance and they are stable at low tension, temperature and
frequency.
- Class 2 of capacitors – these have high capacitance per unit of volume and are used in less
sensitive applications.
Ceramic capacitors Thermal stability [%] Tolerance, t% [%]
Class 1 ±0.54 >1
Class 2 ±0.15 20
Note:
When we require a high density of components (modern printed circuit boards - PCB’s),
capacitors MLCC have the advantage they could be miniaturized, reaching dimensions of
order (0.4 mm × 0.2 mm), with more than 500 layers, alternating the conductive armature and
the ceramic layer, the dielectric thickness being of 0.5 microns (μm).

Plastic film capacitors

Plastic film capacitors (Fig. 2.3) are realized by the coiling of one or more plastic foils which
are metalized on the both faces. At the metalized part (the conductive armature) we bind the
terminals after which we cover it with a protection layer. Thanks to coiling inductivity
appears which can be decreased by the displacement between them of armatures and the
shorting of wires between armatures, at the terminals.
The used polymers are polypropylene, teflon or polystyrene.
Teflon type capacitors are temperature resistant, and those with polystyrene are stable at high
frequencies. The capacitance of these capacitors belongs to the order of 1 nF ÷ 30 μF, at work
voltages of 50 V ÷ 2 kV. Applications: in mechanical vibration environment, with high
temperatures and high power electronic equipment.

Mica capacitors
These capacitors have as dielectric the mica (muscovite mica and flog pit mica), dielectric
which is part of natural mineral category. As armature we use stanium, electrolytic copper or
aluminum films, alternately disposed with mica layers. Today capacitors have sandwich- type
structure, the mica foil being covered on the both faces with a silver layer. The cover layer for
protection is realized by an epoxy resin film.
Mica is a stable electrical, mechanical and chemical dielectric, so that we obtain stable
capacitors in time, with little loss which allow the high frequency function.
Because mica is a stratified structure, we could obtain thicknesses d of the dielectric layer of
the order 0,025 ÷ 0,125 mm, which makes that the dimensions of capacitors to be reduced.
Mica and Ag capacitors have capacitance of order of pF, nF, μF. The maximum work voltages
are found in the range 100 ÷ 1000 V, and for RF transmission we use capacitors with nominal
voltage of 10 kV.
The variation coefficient with the temperature is low: (2÷3)·10-5/K or (20÷30)ppm/oC. The
tolerances are the order of 1 %, comparing with ceramic capacitors which have usual
tolerance of 20 %.

Electrolytic capacitors
Aluminum half-dried capacitors, constructive (Fig. 2.5), are realized by coiling: aluminum
foil- type anodic armature, previously roughened (for effective surface growing) and then
oxidized, is rolled together with an unroughened aluminum foil (cathode) and with two paper
foil in which we impregnate an electrolyte. After impregnation the capacitor is sealed and is
formed a little bit superior tension in comparison with nominal tension.

Fig. 2.5. Aluminum electrolytic capacitor: a) realizing principle; b) constructive structure; c)

overview

Tantalum capacitors
These are electrolytic capacitors (Fig. 2.3), made by a tantalum electrode, covered by an oxide
film (for example Al2O3, Ta2O5, Mb2O5, TiO2). Oxide film present great and stable over time
resistivity and rigidity. Using a special technology we obtain a porous anode, which makes
the armature surface to grow much so that obtained capacitance to be bigger. After the anode
was synthesized and the dielectric layer was grown up, we soak the electrode in a liquid
electrolyte. The electrolyte and the precincts form the cathode of the tantalum capacitor with a
liquid electrolyte.
Tantalum capacitors are generally polarized, which makes to be possible only their connection
to direct current, with correct following of polarity (Fig. 2.2). If we apply an inverse polarity,
we penetrate the tantalum oxide, sometimes using even an explosion.
Their capacitance is the order of 1 nF ÷ 70 mF, at voltages from 2 V to 500 V, being on much
less dimensions than the aluminum electrolytic capacitors.

Supercapacitors
Supercapacitors (Fig. 2.3) are meant to electric energy storage, so projected to satisfy the
dimensional minimization criterion and to maximum accumulated energy. Supercapacitors
have the capacitance of farads order, by using porous conductive electrodes which increase
their surface, implicitly of capacitance. The work voltage is low; this is why we usually use
more series elements, for increasing the work voltage. The disadvantage is that the value of
equivalent capacitance Ces decreases, according to the equivalence relation (Fig. 2.1):
1 1
= ∑  (2.5)
Ces N  Ci 
At two element serialization, the series equivalent capacitance is:
C1 ⋅ C2
Ces = (2.6)
C1 + C2
Thus, if we insert two supercapacitor elements of 2.5 V and 10 F, if results a capacitor battery
of 5 V and 5 F, thanks to equivalent series capacitance given by the relation (2.6).

2.3. Characteristic parameters and capacitor marking

The main parameters of used capacitors in electronic circuits are described forwards.
Nominal capacitance Cn [F] is the capacitance written or marked on capacitor body.
Capacitance marking is made clear both by printing the value of capacitance and of
tolerance on the body of component, and by using the color code (Annex 2.2).
• Tolerance t [%] represents the maximum allowable deviation of the real value of
capacitance given the nominal value:
C − Cn max adm
t% = ⋅ 100 (2.7)
Cn
For capacitors with Cn < 1 μF, the nominal capacitance respects the normalized values
from series E6, E12, E24, E48, with corresponding tolerances of these series: ± 20%,
±10%, ± 5%, ± 2,5%.
For capacitors with Cn > 1 μF, the nominal values and tolerances depend on manufacturer.
For electrolytic capacitors there are usually given non-symmetric tolerances, for example,
(- 10%, +30%) or (- 20%, +80%), etc.
• Temperature coefficient αC represents the relative variation of the nominal capacitance
for a temperature variation 1°C. It could be marked by using the color code or clearly with
letters, for example for ceramic capacitors: H corresponds to αC=33ppm/°C; P corresponds
to αC= 150·ppm/°C; U corresponds to αC= 750 ppm/°C.
 Variation coefficient of capacitance with the temperature is given by the relation:
αc =
1 dC
C dT
[ 1/ 0 C ] (2.8)
In the case of a linear variation, its expression becomes:
αc =
1 C − C0
C0 T − T0
[1 / C0 ] (2.9)

where: C0 and C are the values of capacitance at the temperature T0, respectively, at the
temperature T.
• Nominal voltage Un [V] represents the maximum continuous voltage or the maximum
effective value of alternative current voltage which can be applied in continuously to the
terminals of the capacitor at the temperature of 40°C, without penetrating it.
• Angle losses tangent tgδ is the ratio between dissipated active power in the capacitor and
the reactive power provided by this one when the capacitor is supplied at a sinusoidal
voltage to a specified frequency.
• Insulation resistance Riz [Ω] is the ratio between applied continuous current U at the
terminals of capacitor, or between these one bonded together and the case, respectively the
current intensity I which passes through the capacitor, measured after 1 minute of
maintaining energized, to the temperature of 20°C:
Riz =
U
[Ω] (2.10)
I
For capacitors bigger than 0.1 μF, in the catalogues we indicate the time constant of
capacitor, defined by the relation:
τ = Riz ⋅ Cn [s ] (2.11)
To electrolytic capacitors, in place of electric resistance we use the parameter called
running current If. This represents the conduction current which passes through capacitor
when we apply a continuous voltage to the terminals equal to nominal voltage.
Electric rigidity is the maximum continuous voltage Umax [V] which can be supported by
the capacitor for a minimum of 1 minute, without appearing penetrations or outlines. Work
temperature range is the domain of ambient temperatures for which the capacitor is
projected to work in continuous functioning (θmin, θmax).

3. Experimental determinations

3.1. Type of capacitors identification

In the laboratory there are 4 modules with electronic capacitors available: MC1, MC2, MC3,
MC4. Each module contains 3 sets of capacitors; each set comprising 10 capacitors of the
same type, the same nominal capacitance and supposes to be realized in the same batch.
Each team will identify the characteristic parameters for a module of capacitors, according to
corresponding Annex. The data is passed in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1. Characteristic parameters for electronic capacitors

Cn Un Operating temperature Tolerance, t%
Module Set Code Capacitor type
[F] [V] [°C] [%]
SC1
MC…
SC2
3.2. Verify whether the set of capacitors fit in the tolerance class

a. Verification principle
The aim of experimental determination is the verification for every set of capacitors (N=10) if
the interval of experimental tolerance limits (Li, Ls) is placed in the interior of the regulated
tolerance limits (Ti, Ts).
To the manufacturing of capacitors, like in the case of resistors, the obtained values for the
capacitor capacitance depend on the quality of the technological process. The capacitance
variability indicates the capacitance oscillation mode around the average value Cmed, defined
by the relation:
1
Cmed = ⋅ ∑ Ci (2.12)
N N
where N is the number of capacitors in the set, Ci is the value of capacitance of every
capacitor from the considered set.
The regulated specific tolerance interval STI represents the allowable variability interval of
the capacitance of the batch of capacitors, defined by:
STI = TS − TI (2.13)
where TI is the inferior limit of the standard tolerance, and TS is the superior limit of tolerance,
limits defined by the relations:
TI = Cn − t %⋅ Cn (2.14)
TS = Cn + t %⋅ Cn (2.15)
Experimentally obtained specific tolerance interval ETI represents the experimentally
determined variability interval for a batch of capacitors, defined by:
ETI = LS − LI (2.16)
where, the values for the inferior LI and superior LS limits of the capacitance of the batch of
capacitors are obtained (with statistical reasons, for the case of a normal probability
distribution) with the relations:
LI =C med −2.26 ⋅ s (2.17)
LS = Cmed + 2.26 ⋅ s (2.18)
where the parameter s is obtained by the statistical analysis of the set of capacitors and is
obtained with the expression of the average square dispersion of the values of the capacitance:
∑(Ci − Cmed ) 2
s2 = (2.19)
N −1
In Fig. 2.6. are represented the variation limits of the standard tolerance intervals and of the
experimentally obtained ones.
TI LI LS TS TI LI LS TS
Rmed Rmed

Rn Rn
a) b)
Fig. 2.6. Variation limits of standard tolerance intervals and the experimentally
obtained ones
We consider the used set of capacitors is joined in t tolerance class if the interval of the
tolerance limits (LI, LS) is placed in the interior of regulated interval tolerance limits (TI, TS).

b. Measurements and data processing

We measure the values of capacitance of capacitor from those 2 sets SC1 and SC2. We pass
the obtained values in Table 2.2.
Table 2.2. Experimental data and processing
Crt. No. Cn1 = ..... [F] Cn2 = ..... [F]
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Statistical processing
Cmed [F]
s [F]
TI [F]
TS [F]
LI [F]
LS [F]
Result (does it correspond, or not?)

We will make data processing in a computer program like Excel, using the relations (2.12) –
(2.19), and the obtained date is passed in Table 2.2.

Annexes
Annex 2.1. Catalogue data for electronic capacitors disposed in the laboratory modules.
Annex 2.2. Color code used for electronic capacitors.
Annex 2.3. Standardized values for capacitors

Bibliography
http://www.capacitorguide.com/
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/capacitors