Have you noticed that your phone battery drains faster in winter, or that prolonged gaming makes your phone hot and the battery depletes quickly? While many blame the battery, other internal components are also affected by temperature—such as ceramic capacitors.
Ceramic capacitors are made of ceramic dielectric layers sandwiched between metal electrodes, typically appearing as small blue disc-shaped components. Though they are compact, high-capacity, and low-loss, their capacitance changes with temperature, especially for high dielectric constant types like X5R and X7R, affecting overall circuit performance.
Capacitance Drift
Even capacitors of the same model and nominal capacitance can deviate from their rated value in low or high temperatures. This affects:
- Filtering performance, causing unstable power output and excessive ripple.
- Signal coupling, increasing loss and impacting device communication.
Accelerated Aging at High Temperatures
High temperatures accelerate internal structural changes and dielectric constant decay, reducing capacitance over time. Prolonged exposure can lead to device malfunction or instability.
Failure in Extreme Temperatures
Exceeding the rated temperature range can cause:
- Capacitance to drop significantly
- Dielectric breakdown
- Increased leakage current
- If the capacitor’s dielectric cannot withstand the temperature, it may short-circuit, potentially damaging the entire circuit and connected devices.
Conclusion
When using ceramic capacitors, it’s critical to stay within their rated temperature range. Temperature directly affects capacitance stability, reliability, and device performance.
This article is provided by JYH HSU (JEC) Electronics. JEC is a research, development, production, and sales-oriented company specializing in manufacturing and selling various electronic components such as capacitors and resistors.
Post time: Jan-09-2026