LowESR.com - Resource for Low ESR Capacitors

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Low ESR Capacitors
(Tech support: tpmg@niccomp.com)

Demand for low ESR (ESR = Equivalent
Series Resistance) surface mount (SMT) capacitors is rapidly growing due to industry wide trend towards distributed power management driven by lower voltage circuit design (powering lower voltage silicon devices). Higher levels of complexity - functions in today's designs means the power levels have not decreased with voltage.

Ohm's law gives us I = P/V If within an electronic circuit the operation voltage (V) decreases (example from 5V to 2.0V or 1.0V) and the power (P) stays the same (example 20W) we see that circuit current (I) level rises from (4Amp to 10A or 20A respectively). This greatly increases the requirements on the "power management" circuit (power supply or DC/DC converter) to supply high current at low voltage.

The output capacitor (or capacitor bank) will have a ripple voltage (seen as noise on the supply voltage) proportional to the ESR of the capacitor (or capacitor bank).

V = I X R ... Ripple voltage = Current X ESR

If the current increases from 4A to 20A, within a circuit, the ripple voltage will increase by a factor of FIVE. This increased noise cannot be tolerated, so the ESR of the capacitors must be reduced.

Compounding the need for low ESR further, is the reduced circuit (silicon) tolerance to voltage variation (noise and line droops).

NPC Series

Solid Aluminum
Polymer
Electrolyte
Ultra Low ESR
Molded Flat Chip

100KHz ESR = 0.007ohm
100KHz RCR = 3.5Arms

Build FREE Kit including
NPC Part Numbers [LINK]

Frequency Characteristics [LINK]

TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

Guideline [10 page]
HYBRID ELECTROLYTE
Features:
+ Lower ESR & Reduced ripple voltage than standard liquid electrolyte e-caps
+ Improved performance over temperature
+ Reduces number of components required per board ...Less PC Board Space used & lower assembly costs

Robustness of Surface Mount Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors
When Subjected to Pb-Free Reflow (soldering)

Test Report by CALCE, NIC Components & DFR Solutions

Presented - Published: IPC/JEDEC / CARTS Europe / PCI Magazine

... FREE
Build Your Own Custom Kit

SMT Power Inductors
Low ESR Capacitors
Current Sensing Resistors & More
Quick & FREE!
Over 500 RoHS Compliant Devices

High capacitance value (>100uF) electrolytic capacitors are needed (and commonly called out) within today's power management circuits to deliver energy during high load current stepping. MLLC (ceramic chip capacitors) are also used in >1uF (typically X7R / X5R) due to even lower ESR provided by these types. Multiple capacitors (capacitor bank) using electrolytic and MLCC types are often used, to supply the energy needed during rapid changes in load current demand, as seen by the power management circuit. Virtually every segment of the electronics industry is using - requiring low ESR capacitors. All the major capacitor producers are offering (or developing) lower ESR electrolytic capacitor products.

1uF ~ 100uF Ceramic Chip Capacitors
>100uF Polymer Cathode Low ESR Tantalum E-Caps
>100uF Solid Aluminum Polymer Electrolyte E-Caps
>1000uF Radial Leaded Low ESR Aluminum E-Caps