A ceramic capacitor is a fixed-value capacitor where the ceramic material acts as the dielectric. It is constructed of two or more alternating layers of ceramic and a metal layer acting as the electrodes. The composition of the ceramic material defines the electrical behavior and therefore applications. Ceramic capacitors are divided into two application classes:Class 1 ceramic capacitors offer high stability and low losses for resonant circuit applications.
Class 2 ceramic capacitors offer high volumetric efficiency for buffer, by-pass, and coupling applications.
A typical ceramic through-hole capacitor
A selection of ceramic capacitors: fixed leaded disc capacitors on the left and right; multilayer ceramic chip capacitors (MLCC) in the middle
Ceramic tube capacitor, the typical style of ceramic capacitors in the 1950s and 1970s
MLCCs as decoupling capacitors around a microprocessor
In electrical engineering, a capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electric charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other. The capacitor was originally known as the condenser, a term still encountered in a few compound names, such as the condenser microphone. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals.
Capacitor
Battery of four Leyden jars in Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, the Netherlands
A simple demonstration capacitor made of two parallel metal plates, using an air gap as the dielectric
A surface-mount capacitor. The plates, not visible, are layered horizontally between ceramic dielectric layers, and connect alternately to either end-cap, which are visible.
