Re: General Questions about Tantalum and Electrolytic Capacitors

Bernhard Krämer wrote:
Hello,

While working on my circuit, I found that I have some basic questions about
simple capacitors:

1)
Is there any minimum operating voltage for Tantalum and Electrolytic
capacitors? I think that the formation of an electrolytic layer in such a capacitor
could perhaps require some minimum operating voltage.

2)
Until which frequencies does an electrolytic capacitor work well? When
should I consider tantalum capacitors?


A couple of differences that I am aware of:
1 - Tantalums tend to have a higher capacitance for their size.
2 - Aluminum Electrolytics performance tends to degrade as they age. This may be an issue if you are using them for de-coupling.
3 - Tantalum supposedly works better at high frequencies (you will need to compare datasheets and look the ESR and ESL)

.

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