[sdiy] Starter Components - Capacitors

[Harry Bissell Jr]

Yes... tantalums have their uses via
electrolytics.

Tyically they have less ESR (equivalent series
resistance) so they are more 'effective' as a
decoupling cap.  A tantalum outperforms an equivalent
size (uF) electrolytic.

Electrolytics have higher self inductance... so they
will not perform as well at higher frequencies.

This is why a good decoupling strategy would include
a large electrolytic cap (for low frequencies), a
smaller tantalum, and a cermaic cap for the highest
frequencies

H^) harry

--- Ingo Debus <debus at cityweb.de> wrote:

> 
> Am Donnerstag, 13.01.05 um 07:00 Uhr schrieb
> harrybissell:
> 
> > I don't use tantalum except in power supply
> decoupling, and when I'm 
> > POSITIVE
> > that
> > the supply will not ever get reverse voltage.
> 
> I don't use tantalums at all anymore. Are there
> really circuits that 
> benefit from tantalums vs modern electrolytics? I
> once replaced a fried 
> tantalum with a standard 'lytic and the unit worked
> just fine then.
> 
> Also, today's electrolytics aren't that much bigger
> in size than 
> tantalums anymore (non-SMD).
> 
> Ingo
> 
>