Power supply is always an important sector in the electronic field. Along with the advancement of technology, the need of power supply and power saving both coexist. The rising demand of home and building automation, telecommunications, improved lighting systems fuels this market to grow continuously. Global power supply market is expected to reach USD 43.81 billion by 2026, according to The Courier.

Overall, Asia Pacific is the region which holds the highest market share and the highest growth rate due to its huge population. Moreover, the main suppliers include Siemens, Delta Electronics, Murata Power Solutions, XP Power, TDK-Lambda, Cosel, MEAN WELL, Phoenix Contact, and so on.

MLCC is a great fit for power supply applications

MLCC (multi-layer ceramic capacitors) is known to stack multiple capacitors together into a single package. Owing to its low cost, flexibility in size, and ability to sustain high voltages, recently MLCC is used more widely than other kinds of capacitors for minimizing the circuit space and simplifying the circuit design.

More than that, MLCC also has excellent ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) and ESL (Equivalent Series Inductance) characteristics, and they make MLCC a great choice for input and output capacitors of power supply circuits. After all, letting the system be energy-efficient is all designers’ wish when designing a power supply circuit.

Normally an actual capacitor is different from an ideal capacitor, its impedance would not only be affected by the capacitance and frequency, but also affected by ESR and ESL. From Fig. 1, an ideal voltage waveform of a capacitor should be a triangular wave, but the interference of ESR and ESL makes it irregular: ESR creates ripple voltage, while ESL creates spikes. Therefore, the smaller ESR and ESL is, the better performance of the capacitor will be, which means this capacitor closes to an ideal one. And that is what MLCC can perform.

PDC provides MLCC suitable for power supply circuits

In general, MLCC with voltage ≧100V could be applied (but not limited) to smoothing, oscillation, de-coupling, snubber and interface circuits. For selecting these kinds of MLCCs, Prosperity Dielectrics Co., Ltd. (PDC) is your first choice. PDC is the first local manufacturer and exporter of MLCC in Taiwan, which was allied with PSA Group in 2005 and merged with Frontier in 2008. PDC focuses on niche markets and is able to deliver Safety Certified, High-Voltage, Big Size, and Custom-made MLCC products, etc. Besides, PDC usually spends 8～10% of its sales revenues in R&D each year.

Its FS (high capacitance), FM (mid-voltage) and FV (high voltage) series are especially suitable for applications such as power supply circuits. For instance, FS series could be applied to smoothing circuit; FM series could be applied to smoothing, oscillation, de-coupling, and snubber circuits; and FV series could be applied to de-coupling, snubber, and interface circuits.

FS series refers to high capacitance capacitor series, with rated voltage ranging from 4 to 630V, and chip size ranging from 0402 to 2225. The dielectric materials of FS series contain X5R, X7R and Y5V. FM series refers to mid-voltage capacitor series, with rated voltage ranging from 100 to 630V, and chip size ranging from 0402 to 2225. The dielectric materials of FM series contain C0G (NP0), X7R and Y5V. FV series refers to extra high voltage capacitor series, with rated voltage ≧1KV, and chip size ranging from 0805 to 2225. The dielectric materials of FV series contain C0G (NP0) and X7R.

Currently at TECHDesign, there are multiple selections for FS, FM and FV series. The capacitance of FS ranges from 1uF to 10uF; the capacitance of FM series ranges from 0.47nF to 0.1uF; and the capacitance of FV series ranges from 56pF to 105pF.

Conclusion

According to The Courier, the global power supply market is expected to reach USD 43.81 billion by 2026, and the main driving force is home and building automation, telecommunications, and improved lighting systems.

With great ESR and ESL characteristics, MLCC (especially high voltage MLCC) suits to be input and output capacitors of power supply circuits. As the first local manufacturer of MLCC in Taiwan, PDC provides complete MLCC selections for customers to choose from. Among them, FS, FM and FV series are designed with medium to high level rated voltage, which is suitable for power supply circuits.

TECHDesign provides multiple selections for FS, FM and FV series. Furthermore, all the products will be delivered by PDC directly. Would like to start your power supply circuit design? Come visit TECHDesign now to start your shopping!