In radar systems, power amplifiers serve an essential role in transmitting signals that probe the environment of interest. They boost signal strength and maintain its quality to achieve the intended range and resolution of the overall system.

When considering capacitor selection for a given circuit, whether you’re focused on power electronics or deep in the world of RF, it's important to remember that some of a capacitor’s fundamental roles are universal. 

The electrical power systems in most modern technologies, like electric vehicles (EVs), are complex. In EVs specifically, power systems are responsible for performing many tasks such as converting AC to DC and DC to AC as well as managing changing power levels in DC/DC conversion. When performing these tasks, manipulating AC voltages and removing noise from DC voltage requires passive components such as capacitors, to perform many “jobs” inside the power system. But no single capacitor type can perform all these jobs since each one has different requirements for voltage, size, temperature, and reliability. Therefore, a variety of capacitor technologies, such as ceramic, film, and aluminum, are required to meet all these needs.

We recently released new supercapacitor modules that provide a significant jump in voltage rating over typical radial-mount supercapacitors, up to 9.0 WVDC.

To help PCBs and other physically connected components survive vibration, board bending, thermal mismatching, and stress during thermal cycling, Knowles Precision Devices has launched a range of leaded standoff components, Metal Frame J-Lead Terminal MLCCs, that are qualified to AEC-Q200. AEC-Q200 is the global standard for stress resistance in passive electronic components in automotive applications. 

Given that snubber capacitors address the negative impacts of switching, it’s no surprise that they’re most commonly found in switching power supplies. These systems face major challenges from switching, including: 

• Switching transients 
• Parasitic elements 
• High-frequency noise 

Capacitors serve many crucial functions in power electronic circuits. Their ability to store electric charge makes them essential components for regulating and smoothing power flow. 

Many of these capacitors are standard fare, but a few play highly specialized, functional roles. To meet application-specific demands, these capacitors must be selected carefully based on function, size, and interoperability. 

As a fundamental component of circuit design, equivalent series resistance (ESR) is the measurement of all the non-ideal electrical resistances in series with a capacitor. When current flows through a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) due to application of alternating voltage, heat is generated in the MLCC due to the losses, specifically ESR. As a result, this self-heating can cause various performance and reliability issues in the circuits of today’s more complex and smaller electronic systems.

The power electronic systems in an electric vehicle (EV) feature a wide variety of capacitors. From DC-link capacitors to safety capacitors and snubber capacitors, these components play a critical role in stabilizing and safeguarding the electronics from factors like voltage spikes and electromagnetic interference (EMI). Here, we’ll focus on the capacitors used in the EV traction inverter.  

With the rising prevalence of cardiovascular, orthopedic, and other chronic conditions, and an increase in the number of patients needing care, the demand for implantable medical devices continues to increase.