Vishay capacitor's new case size reduces parasitic inductance

Vishay Intertechnology Inc. released what it claims as the industry's first silicon-based surface-mount RF capacitor available in the 0603 case size.

Based on a proprietary semiconductor process developed by the company, the new capacitor's construction reduces parasitic inductance while bringing self-resonant frequency (SRF) values to frequencies two to three times higher than conventional RF capacitors.

The high-performance, high-precision HPC0603A features SRF values as high as 13GHz over a broad capacitance range from 3.3pF to 560pF. Vishay said the E12 values available in this range provide extremely stable operation over a wide range of frequencies from 1MHz to several GHz. Parasitic inductance is 0.046nH. The company also said that HPC0603A devices offering E24 values are scheduled for release in the near future.

The new capacitor features high Q factors up to 4,157, tolerances of ±1 percent or 0.05pF, and low ESR values. The HPC0603A measures 1.60-by-0.80mm with a 0.56mm height profile. Voltage options of 6-, 10-, 16- and 25V are available.

Reduces parasitics, improves circuit performance

The HPC devices' construction reduces parasitics by shortening interconnecting traces on PCBs, and improves circuit performance by decreasing the distance between components. This design brings higher SRF frequencies to the capacitor, enhancing performance and transmission/reception quality during operation at high frequencies. As a result, designers of wireless communications devices can use HPC devices to reduce product size—simplifying design and reducing the number of components on the PCB—without sacrificing electrical performance.

Samples of the HPC0603A are already available, with lead times of up to 10 weeks for production quantities.