Difference Between Tantalum And Ceramic Capacitors

Basic differences ceramic capacitors have a multitude of dielectric types available and each of these types is characterized by their sensitivities to temperature but not to voltage or time.

Difference between tantalum and ceramic capacitors.

The difference between tantalum capacitors and ceramic capacitors is that under the same capacity tantalum capacitors have a much smaller volume and tantalum capacitors have lower esr than electrolytic capacitors have a longer life and are resistant to high temperatures. No piezo electric properties that may result in circuit noise. Tantalum capacitors are polarized devices so correct polarity must be maintained on the pc board. Figure 2a 2b.

A ceramic cap is a disc type that has a piece of ceramic wafer between the plates. Ceramic capaci tors constructed with these dielectrics offer moderate dielec tric constants with moderate temperature and voltage sensi tivities. Comparison of multilayer ceramic and tantalum capacitors by jeffrey cain ph d. A molded tantalum capacitor top and a microchip style tantalum capacitor bottom ceramic capacitors.

Tantalum are low voltage devices suitable for computer and power supply applications. High and stable capacitor values that are not affected by applied voltage. Tantalum capacitors can be used as coupling and the frequency range of such circuits as filter oscillatory bypass is large while ceramic capacitors are mostly used in high frequency circuits. Surface mount tantalum capacitors typically feature a bottom electrode structure.

In contrast to tantalum capacitors ceramic capacitors have less overall plate area and significantly thicker layers but compensate for such deficiencies by using dielectric materials with a much higher dielectric constant. Tantalum electrolytic capacitors can achieve a small capacitance while the ceramic capacitor can hardly achieve the ideal performance when the capacitance is large. The dc working voltage of tantalum chip capacitors is limited to between 4 v and 50 v. They overlap with tantalum capacitors in capaci.

Ceramic capacitor vs tantalum capacitor. A tantalum cap is a form of dry electrolytic cap. Engineers now have a choice between ceramic and tantalum when it comes to selecting capacitors with values between 0 1 22µf. Tantalum capacitors configured with electrodes on the bottom of the package are not susceptible to shorts even when mounted close together facing each other.

Depending on the application the capacitor type is chosen. Ceramic chips are rated from 6 3 v to 200 v with others up to 5 kv. Tantalum capacitors and ceramic capacitors also have different uses. This is significantly less in ceramic capacitors than in tantalums 0 001 μa compared to 0 5 30 μa.