Film capacitor

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 plasticfilm as the dielectric, sometimes combined with paper as carrier of the electrodes.

The dielectric films, depending on thedesired dielectric strength, are drawn in a special process to an extremelythin thickness, and are then provided with electrodes. The electrodes of filmcapacitors may be metalized aluminum or zinc applied directly to the surface of the plastic film, or aseparate metallic foil. Two of these conductive layers are wound into acylinder shaped winding, usually flattened to reduce mounting spacerequirements on a printedcircuit board, or layered as multiple single layersstacked together, to form a capacitor body. Film capacitors, together with ceramic capacitors and electrolyticcapacitors, are the most common capacitor types foruse in electronic equipment, and are used in many AC and DC microelectronics and electronics circuits.