TABLE OF CONTENTS Besides the control IC and the inductor, one of the key components used is the capacitor. It is becoming increasingly vital that we understand capacitors very well, but surprisingly, many engineers still don't. Perhaps they are taking it somewhat for granted.
A fairly comprehensive look at current capacitor technologies and their applications is provided in Figure 4-1 It is based on information easily available off the Epcos website. I vaguely remember that a few years ago, Epcos was spun off from Siemens AG (just like Infineon AG before it). Having worked for Siemens in Germany for a few years, I admit I am always interested in seeing what those guys are still up to nowadays (hopefully still sitting around guzzling beer in their echte leder jackets and lederhosen!). What I can tell you for sure is that that is where I met some of the most top-notch engineers ever. Of course, you sometimes had to bide your time until they sobered up, but it was well worth it! I also remember they never cut corners or jumped to conclusions (even if you begged them to). Quite the opposite of what seems to be the current practice in some of the bigger (and lazier) Silicon Valley analog companies.
In this particular chapter, we will focus a great deal on ceramic capacitors since these have become extremely popular today. However, in commercial AC-DC power supplies, the aluminum electrolytic (or...
