15KV 121K DC 120pF Varistors Ceramic Disc Capacitor For Printed Circuit Board

Characteristics

Precision and tolerances

There are two classes of ceramic capacitors available today: class 1 and class 2. Class 1 ceramic capacitors are used where high stability and low losses are required. They are very accurate and the capacitance value is stable in regard to applied voltage, temperature and frequency. The NP0 series of capacitors has a capacitance thermal stability of ±0.54% within the total temperature range of -55 to +125 °C. Tolerances of the nominal capacitance value can be as low as 1%.

Class 2 capacitors have a high capacitance per volume and are used for less sensitive applications. Their thermal stability is typically ±15% in the operating temperature range, and the nominal value tolerances are around 20%.

Size advantages

When high component packing densities are required, as is the case in most modern printed circuit boards (PCBs), MLCC devices offer a great advantage compared to other capacitors. To illustrate this point, the “0402” multi-layer ceramic capacitor package measures just 0.4 mm x 0.2 mm. In such a package, there are 500 or more ceramic and metal layers. The minimum ceramic thickness as of 2010 is on the order of 0.5 microns.

High voltage and high power

Physically larger ceramic capacitors can be made to withstand much higher voltages and these are called power ceramic capacitors. These are physically much larger than those used on PCBs and have specialized terminals for safe connection to a high voltage supply. Power ceramic capacitors can be made to withstand voltages in the range of 2kV up to 100 kV, with a power specified at much higher than 200 volt-amperes.

Smaller MLCCs used in printed circuit boards are rated to voltages from only a few volts up to several hundreds of volts, depending on the application.

Electronic Performances

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