Material knowledge of ceramic capacitors

 Material knowledge of ceramic capacitors

 

Ceramic capacitor is a capacitor whose dielectric material is ceramic. The structure consists of two or more alternating layers of ceramic and metal layers, which are connected to the electrodes of the capacitor. The composition of ceramic materials determines the electrical characteristics of ceramic capacitors and their application range, which can be divided into the following three categories according to stability:

 

 

Class 1 ceramic capacitors:

with high stability and low loss, suitable for applications in resonant circuits.

 

Class 2 ceramic capacitors:

They have high volumetric efficiency, but poor stability and accuracy, making them suitable for buffering, decoupling, and bypass circuits.

 

Class 3 ceramic capacitors:

They have higher volumetric efficiency, but poorer stability and accuracy.

 

Class 1 ceramic capacitor: a capacitor with temperature compensation and accurate capacitance value. The stability is optimal at different voltages and temperatures, with the least loss. But its volumetric efficiency is also the lowest. The temperature coefficient of a typical Class 1 capacitor is 30 ppm/° C, and its linearity to temperature is high. The dissipation factor of a Class 1 ceramic capacitor is about 0.15%, making it suitable for high quality factor filters. The capacitance error of Class 1 capacitors is generally about 5% to 10%, and high accuracy capacitors with an error of only 1% can also be found. The Class 1 capacitor with the highest accuracy is labeled as C0G or NP0.

 

Class 2 ceramic capacitors: Their volumetric efficiency is better than Class 1 capacitors, but their capacitance accuracy and stability are poor. A typical Class 2 capacitor has a capacitance error value within the temperature range of -55 ° C to 85 ° C, which is within 15%. The dissipation factor of Class 2 capacitors is approximately 2.5%.

 

 

Class 3 ceramic capacitors: their volumetric efficiency is better, but their capacitance accuracy and stability are also worse. The capacitance of a typical Class 3 capacitor varies from -22% to+56% in the temperature range of 10 ° C to 55 ° C. The dissipation factor of Class 3 capacitors is approximately 4%. Class 3 capacitors are generally used in decoupling capacitors and other power supply applications

 

The above three types of capacitors correspond approximately to low K (dielectric coefficient), medium K, and high K capacitors. Three types of capacitors need to be selected according to the application requirements. Class I capacitors have a larger volume than Class 3 capacitors. If they are only used for bypass and non filter purposes, capacitors only need to consider cost and volumetric efficiency. Its accuracy, stability, and loss coefficient are not the main considerations. Therefore, Class 1 capacitors are mainly used in filters. In addition to using Class 1 ceramic capacitors, thin film capacitors can also be used in low-frequency applications, The application of radio frequency requires the use of more complex capacitors.

 

Class 3 capacitors are generally used in power supplies. Due to volume limitations, it is difficult to find other suitable capacitors for this application except for Class 3 capacitors. With the advancement of ceramic technology, the capacitance range of ceramic capacitors has gradually expanded, currently reaching up to 100µF. Many applications have begun to replace electrolytic capacitors with ceramic capacitors, which have better performance than electrolytic capacitors with the same capacitance, Although its cost is higher than electrolytic capacitors, with the advancement of technology, its price is also getting lower and lower.

 

 Ceramic capacitors can be divided into the following different shapes and types: 

 

* Disc type, resin-coated, plug-in package capacitor

* A surface-mounted technical capacitor for a cuboid consisting of multiple layers of capacitors

* Dish shaped capacitors without pins are usually placed in the slots of the circuit board and directly soldered onto the circuit board, commonly used in ultra-high frequency (UHF) applications.

* cylinder type, not in use at present.

 

 What are the materials of ceramic capacitors?  

 

 

Y5P; Y5E; Y5R; Y5T; Y5V;Y5U;Z5U;Z5V; Z4V; X7R;N750;N330;NPO

SL。

Ceramic capacitors have the following materials: Y5P; Y5E; Y5R; Y5T; Y5V; Y5U; Z5U; Z5V; Z4V; X7R; N750; N330; NPO SL.

Several commonly used ceramic capacitors：Y5P; Y5V; Y5U; X7R;NPO

 

* Y5P has the best temperature compensation performance, with a capacitance value variation range of ± 10% across the entire temperature range.

 

* Y5U has no compensatory effect on temperature changes, and the capacitance value variation range within the entire temperature range is+22%/-56%.

 

* Y5V indicates operating at -30~+85 degrees Celsius, with a deviation of -82%~+22% across the entire temperature range

 

* X5R indicates operating at -55~+85 degrees Celsius, with a deviation of plus or minus 15% across the entire temperature range

 

* X7R indicates operating at -55~+125 degrees Celsius, with a deviation of plus or minus 15% across the entire temperature range

 

* NPO (COG) is the capacitor with the most stable temperature characteristics, with very small capacitance temperature drift and stable capacity throughout the temperature range. The temperature is also -55~125 degrees, suitable for oscillators and ultra-high frequency filtering decoupling.

 

The temperature coefficient of the capacitor: For non temperature compensated capacitors that are not Class 1, the first word corresponds to the lower limit of the working temperature, the second word is a number corresponds to the upper limit of the working temperature, and the third word corresponds to the capacitance value changes within the above temperature range:

 

Low temperature	High temperature	Capacity change
X= −55 °C (−67 °F)	2= +45 °C (+113 °F)	D= ±3.3%
Y= −30 °C (−22 °F)	4= +65 °C (+149 °F)	E= ±4.7%
Z= +10 °C (+50 °F)	5= +85 °C (+185 °F)	F= ±7.5%
	6=+105 °C (+221 °F)	P= ±10%
	7=+125 °C (+257 °F)	R= ±15%
	8=+150 °C (+302 °F)	S= ±22%
		T= +22 to −33%
		U= +22 to −56%
		V= +22 to −82%

 

A capacitor labeled Z5U operates at a temperature of+10 ° C to+85 ° C, with a capacitance variation range of+22% to -56%. The capacitor labeled X7R operates at temperatures ranging from -55 ° C to+125 ° C, with a capacitance variation range of ± 15%.

 

The temperature compensation capacitor also has a three character identification code for the temperature coefficient of the capacitor, but the rules are different from the above. The first word represents the variation of capacitance with temperature, expressed in ppm/° C, the second word is its power of 10, and the second word is the maximum allowable error of the variation of capacitance with temperature (expressed in ppm/° C). Therefore, the values are based on 25 to 85°C:

 

Top digit	power	Tolerance
C: 0.0	0: -1	G: ±30
B: 0.3	1: -10	H: ±60
L: 0.8	2: -100	J: ±120
A: 0.9	3: -1000	K: ±250
M: 1.0	4: +1	L: ±500
P: 1.5	6: +10	M: ±1000
R: 2.2	7: +100	N: ±2500
S: 3.3	8: +1000
T: 4.7
V: 5.6
U: 7.5

 

 High frequency usage  

 

The inductance of ceramic capacitors is lower than that of other major capacitors (thin film capacitors or electrolytic capacitors), making them suitable for high-frequency applications. Generally, they can reach several hundred MHz, and if fine tuned on the circuit, they can even reach 1GHz. If you want to achieve a higher self resonance frequency, you need to use more expensive and rare capacitors, such as glass capacitors or mica capacitors.

The self resonance frequencies of a set of C0G (temperature compensated) and X7R (non temperature compensated) ceramic capacitors are listed below

 

	10 pF	100 pF	1 nF	10 nF	100 nF	1 uF
C0G (Class 1)	1550MHz	460MHz	160MHz	55MHz
X7R (Class 2)			190MHz	56MHz	22MHz	10MHz

 

 

 Ceramic capacitors of UF Capacitors  

 

Topdiode Group & UF Capacitors was established since 1995, as one of the professional China capacitors manufacturer and China capacitors factory, we are strong in complete management, strict quality control system, and excellent sales service.

 

 cross reference from UF Capacitors:  

 

 

Photo	Descriptiom	UF Capacitors' Series Code	Vishay	TDK/Epcos	Murata	AVX	Kemet
	Radial Lead Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (25V~4KV)	CT4 Series	K Series	FK Series FG Series	RPE Series RDE Series	SR Series M Series	C315~C350 Series
	Axial Lead, MLCC	CT42 Series	A (Mono-Axial) Series	***	***	SA Series P Series	C410~C440 Series
	High Voltage Disc Ceramic Capacitors 500V~6KV	CT81 Series	S Series 561R Series 562R Series 564R Series 565R Series	CK45 Series CC45 Series	DEB DHR Series DEH DEA Series DEB DEC Series	***	KHB Series KHC Series
	X1Y1 Safety Ceramic Capacitor 400VAC	Y1 Series	30LVS Series VY1 Series	CD45 Series	DE1 Series	K1Y Series	C900 Series KJN Series
	X1Y2 Safety Ceramic Capacitor 250VAC	Y2 Series	WYO Series 25Y Series VY2 Series VKO Series	CS45 Series	DE2 Series	KJY Series K2Y Series	C900 Series
	CT41 Chip Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors 4V to 6KV	CT41 Series	VJ0201 VJ0402 VJ0603 VJ0805	C1005 Series C1608 Series C2012 Series C3216 Series C3225 Series C4532 Series C5750 Series	GRM Series	0603 Series 0805 Series 1206 Series 1210	C0201 Series C0402 Series C0603 Series

 

 How to Obtain a Quote from UF Capacitors? 

 

You can easily send an email to lily@ufcapacitors.com, the engineering and sales team in UF Capacitors will help you select the correct capacitors.