Dissipation factor

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In physics, the dissipation factor (DF) is a measure of loss-rate of energy of a mode

of oscillation (mechanical, electrical, or electromechanical) in a dissipative system. It is the reciprocal of Quality
factor, which represents the quality of oscillation.

For example, electrical potential energy is dissipated in all dielectric materials, usually in the form of heat. In
a capacitor made of a dielectric placed between conductors, the typicallumped element model includes a
lossless ideal capacitor in series with a resistor termed the equivalent series resistance (ESR) as shown
below.[1] The ESR represents losses in the capacitor. In a good capacitor the ESR is very small, and in a poor
capacitor the ESR is large. Note that the ESR is not simply the resistance that would be measured across a
capacitor by an ohmmeter. The ESR is a derived quantity with physical origins in both the dielectric's
conduction electrons and dipole relaxation phenomena. In a dielectric only one of either the conduction
electrons or the dipole relaxation typically dominates loss.[2] For the case of the conduction electrons being the
dominant loss, then

, where

σ is the dielectric's bulk conductivity,

ω is the angular frequency of the AC current i,
is the lossless permittivity of the dielectric, and
C is the lossless capacitance.

A real capacitor has a lumped element model of a lossless ideal capacitor in series with an equivalent series resistance
(ESR). The loss tangent is defined by the angle between the capacitor's impedance vector and the negative reactive axis.
If the capacitor is used in an AC circuit, the dissipation factor due to the non-ideal capacitor is expressed as the
ratio of the resistive power loss in the ESR to the reactive power oscillating in the capacitor, or

When representing the electrical circuit parameters as vectors in a complex plane, known as phasors, a
capacitor's dissipation factor is equal to the tangent of the angle between the capacitor's impedance vector and
the negative reactive axis, as shown in the diagram to the right. This gives rise to the parameter known as
the loss tangent δ where

Since the DF in a good capacitor is usually small, δ ~ DF, and DF is often expressed as a percentage.

DF approximates to the power factor when ESR is far less than Xc, which is usually the case.

DF will vary depending on the dielectric material and the frequency of the electrical signals. In low dielectric
constant (low-k), temperature compensating ceramics, DF of 0.1% to 0.2% is typical. In high dielectric constant
ceramics, DF can be 1% to 2%. However, lower DF is usually an indication of quality capacitors when
comparing similar dielectric material.
Capacitor ESR Ratings
[edit]ESR Equivalent Series Resistance
The ESR rating of a capacitor is a rating of quality. A theoretically perfect capacitor would be lossless and
have an ESR of zero. It would have no in-phase AC resistance. We live in the real world and all
capacitors have some amount of ESR. To understand why, let us review what a capacitor is, what they
are made of, and how we rate them.

[edit]Measuring ESR

You can measure ESR with an analog meter called the Capacitor Wizard From
Transtronics, Inc. This sites sponsor.
Other Capacitance meters

[edit]What is a Capacitor?
A capacitor consists of two conductive metal plates separated by an insulating dielectric. The dielectric
can be made of glass, ceramic, tantalum oxide, or plastics such as polyethylene or polycarbonate. Even
air can be used as the dielectric. When the capacitor holds some energy in the form of extra electrons on
one plate and electron holes on the other, we say that the capacitor is charged.

[edit]Farads

Capacitance (C) is the amount of charge per volt of potential that a capacitor holds. (C = Q / V, where Q =
charge (measured in coulombs) and V = potential difference (measured in volts)

Capacitance is measured in Farads, but most often a small fraction of a Farad thus:

 micro-Farads uF millionths (10-6) Farads

 pico-Farads pF (10-12) Farads (sometimes called "puffs" in engineering slang)
The energy stored in a capacitor is E = CV2/2 (E is in joules).

Thus, the average power in watts is Pav = CV2 / 2t, where t is the time in seconds.

The maximum voltage rating and its capacitance determine the amount of energy a capacitor holds. The
voltage rating increases with increasing dielectric strength and the thickness of the dielectric. The
capacitance increases with the area of the plates and decreases with the thickness of the dielectric.

Thus, the capacitance of a capacitor (C) is related to the plate area (A), plate separation distance (d), and
permittivity (ε) of the dielectric by the following equation:

Here A and d are based on meters as the unit and ε is in Farads per meter (or Coulombs squared per
newton-meters squared). Notice the force unit involved—it explains why capacitor microphonics
(remember the good old condenser microphone?) and a mechanical failure mode of capacitors).
[edit]Dielectric Constants
Dielectric constant (k) gets its value by comparison of the charge holding ability of a vacuum, where k = 1.
Thus, k is the ratio of the capacitance with a volume of dielectric compared to that of a vacuum dielectric.

, where εd is the permittivity of the dielectric and ε0 is the permittivity of free space

Air has nearly the same dielectric value as a vacuum with k = 1.0001. Teflon, a very good insulator, has a
value of k = 2, while the plastics range in the low 2s to low 3s. Mica gets us a k = 6. Aluminum oxide is 7,
tantalum's k is 27, and the ceramics' range from 35 to over 6,000.

Dielectric constants vary with temperature, voltage, and frequency making capacitors messy devices to
characterize. Whole books have been written about choosing the correct dielectric for an application,
balancing the desires of temperature range, Temperature stability, size, cost, reliability, dielectric
absorption, voltage coefficients, current handling capacity (ESR). (Ivan Sinclair wrote a nice book on
passives; unfortunately, it is out of print. This points to the fact that our universities are no longer teaching
this material). See the [../kits/ccode.htm Secrets of capacitor codes page] for more information

[edit]Dielectric strength
Dielectric strength is a property of the dielectric that is usually expressed in volts per mil (V/.001") or volts
per centimeter (V/cm). It is the maximum potential difference across a unit thickness of the dielectric
before it breaks down and allows a spark. If we exceed the dielectric strength, an electric arc will "flash
over" and often weld the plates of a capacitor together.

[edit]Q or Quality Factor

The Q of a capacitor is important in tuned circuits because they are more damped and have a broader
tuning point as the Q goes down.

where XC is the capacitive reactance

and R is the soon-to-be-defined term of ESR.

Q is proportional to the inverse of the amount of energy dissipated in the capacitor. Thus, ESR rating of a
capacitor is inversely related to its quality.

[edit]Dissipation Factor
The inverse of Q is the dissipation factor (tan(δ)). Thus, tan(δ) = ESR/XC and the higher the ESR the
more losses in the capacitor and the more power we dissipate. If too much energy is dissipated in the
capacitor, it heats up to the point that values change (causing drift in operation) or failure of the capacitor.

[edit]Ripple Current Rating

The ripple current is sometimes rated for a capacitor in RMS current. Remembering that P = I 2R where R
in this case is ESR it is plain to see that this is a power dissipation rating.
[edit]Dielectric Absorption
This is the phenomenon where after a capacitor has been charged for some time, and then discharged,
some stored charge will migrate out of the dielectric over time, thus changing the voltage value of the
capacitor. This is extremely important in sample and hold circuit applications. The typical method of
observing Dielectric Absorption is to charge up a cap to some known DC voltage for a given time, then
discharge the capacitor through a 2 ohm resistor for one second, then watch the voltage on a high-input-
impedance voltmeter. The ratio of recovered voltage (expressed in percent) is the usual term for Dielectric
absorption.

The charge absorption effect is caused by a trapped space charge in the dielectric and is dependent on
the geometry and leakage of the dielectric material.

[edit]ESL

ESL (Equivalent Series Inductance) is pretty much caused by the inductance of the electrodes and leads.
The ESL of a capacitor sets the limiting factor of how well (or fast) a capacitor can de-couple noise off a
power bus.

The ESL of a capacitor also sets the resonate-point of a capacitor. Because the inductance appears in
series with the capacitor, they form a tank circuit.

[edit]ESR Defined
ESR is the sum of in-phase AC resistance. It includes resistance of the dielectric, plate material,
electrolytic solution, and terminal leads at a particular frequency. ESR acts like a resistor in series with a
capacitor (thus the name Equivalent Series Resistance). This resistance often is the cause of failures in
capacitor circuits. These circuits look just fine on paper, but the hidden resistance causes failure due to
heat buildup.

To charge the dielectric material current needs to flow down the leads, through the lead plate junction,
through the plates themselves - and even through the dielectric material. The dielectric losses can be
thought of as friction of aligning dipoles and thus appear as an increase (or a reduction of the rate of
decrease -- this increase is what makes the resistance vs freq line to go flat.) of measured ESR as
frequency increases.

As the dielectric thickness increases so does the ESR. As the plate area increases, the ESR will go down
if the plate thickness remains the same.

To test a capacitor's ESR requires something other than a standard capacitor meter. While a capacitor
value meter is a handy device, it will not detect capacitor failure modes that raise the ESR. As the years
go by, more and more designs rely on low ESR capacitors to function properly. ESR-failed caps can
present circuit symptoms that are difficult to diagnose.

[edit]Formulas at a glance
[edit]Dissipation Factor
Where:

 δ is the angle between the capacitor's impedance vector and the negative reactive axis.
 DF is the Dissipation Factor (sometimes expressed as a percentage).
 ESR stands for Equivalent Series Resistance
 XC is the capacitive reactance

[edit]Capacitive Reactance
Reactance is used to compute amplitude and phase changes of sinusoidal current. It is denoted by the
symbol and can be used in place of resistance in many calculations - It can be thought of as the
effective AC resistance at some frequency.

The -1 above is because the reactance is negative from the following vector math:

Both reactance and resistance are required to calculate impedance . In some circuits one of
these may dominate, but an approximate knowledge of the minor component is useful to determine if it
may be neglected.

where

j2 = − 1

The 'magnitude' phase of the impedance depend on the combined action of the
resistance and the reactance. is the ratio of the voltage and current amplitudes, while
the is the voltage–current phase difference.

where Z * is the complex conjugate of Z

 If , the reactance is inductive

 If , then the impedance is purely resistive
 If , the reactance is capacitive
The reciprocal of reactance ( 1 / X) is susceptance - not a term you will likely meet up with.

[edit]Inductive reactance:
XL = ωL = 2πfL

Relationship between angular frequency ω and frequency f:

ω = 2πf
[edit]Resonance Frequency

 Fr = Frequency of Resonance

[edit]Dielectric Constant to Capacitance

Where

 k = dielectric constant ( ; dimensionless)

 A = area (square meters)
 t = thickness of the dielectric (meters)
 Q = charge (coulombs)
 V = potential difference (volts)

 is the permittivity of the dielectric

 is the permittivity of free space ( )

[edit]Stored Energy
Where energy E (in joules) stored in a capacitor is given by

[edit]Average power
Thus, the average power in watts where t = time in seconds.
 Domain Reflectometry (TDR) — Characteristic Impedance of
[edit]Time
cable formulas
[edit]Discontinuance of transmission characteristic impedance
Where

 Za = characteristic impedance through which the incident wave travels first

 Zb = the characteristic impedance through which the incident wave travels next.
 Vr = the reflected wave amplitude,
 Vi = the incident wave amplitude
 Vt is the transmitted wave amplitude.

Where:

 Z0 is the characteristic impedance