Are polymer capacitors better than ceramic capacitors?

This makes the polymer capacitors excellent for power supplies and audio applications. While a polymer capacitor is typically more expensive than other alternatives, it can offer cost savings over ceramic capacitors due to the reduction in capacitance at the voltage in ceramics - requiring fewer polymer capacitors to do the same job.

What types of capacitors does Knowles CDE offer?

Knowles CDE offers a wide selection of standard and custom screw terminal, snap-in, and board mount capacitors for use in critical applications, ranging from defibrillators and medical imaging, to radar systems and UPS power backup for large data systems.

How to choose a capacitor?

Choosing your capacitor primarily depends on your application and budget constraints. The price of capacitors can vary, from less than a cent to more than $100. Let’s take a look at the capacitor types, where they are used, and when one is more suitable than another. Easily design schematics of any complexity.

Are polymer capacitors good for high-frequency applications?

As touched on earlier, polymer capacitors are excellent for high-frequency applications in comparison to their liquid electrolyte counterparts. While not as good as a ceramic capacitor, they are very close and can offer high capacitance for a similar price and board footprint when compared to the ceramic capacitor option.

What is a ceramic capacitor?

Ceramic capacitors are one of the most popular and common types of capacitors. In the early days, ceramic capacitors had very low capacitance, but nowadays, this is not the case. Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) are used extensively in circuits; their capacitance rating can reach hundreds of microfarads (µF).

Are tantalum capacitors a good choice for high-frequency applications?

Still, it is something to be aware of when using tantalum capacitors near their ratings. In comparison to ceramic capacitors, the equivalent series resistance of a tantalum capacitor is relatively high, typically orders of magnitude higher. This makes tantalum capacitors a poor choice for high-frequency applications.