In electronics, a decoupling capacitor is a capacitor used to decouple one part of a circuit from another. Noise caused by other circuit elements is shunted through the capacitor, reducing its effect on the rest of the circuit. For higher frequencies, an alternative name is bypass capacitor as it is used to bypass the power supply or other high-impedance component of a circuit.
Capacitor packages: SMD ceramic at top left; SMD tantalum at bottom left; through-hole tantalum at top right; through-hole electrolytic at bottom right. Major scale divisions are cm.
Impedance curves of aluminum electrolytic capacitors (solid lines) and polymer capacitors (dashed lines)
1980s Commodore 64 main board. Most of the "orange" round disc parts are decoupling capacitors.
1980s Cromemco XXU, a Motorola 68020 processor S-100 bus card. The axial parts between the ICs are decoupling capacitors.
Film capacitors, plastic film capacitors, film dielectric capacitors, or polymer film capacitors, generically called film caps as well as power film capacitors, are electrical capacitors with an insulating plastic film as the dielectric, sometimes combined with paper as carrier of the electrodes.
Plastic film capacitors potted in rectangular casings, or dipped in epoxy lacquer coating (red color)
Flattened winding of a "naked" film capacitor before encasement, with a view of collateral metal contact layers ("schoopage") and attached terminals
Close-up of schoopage and terminal of stacked film capacitor
Axial style for point-to-point and through-hole mounting