Suntan Ripple Current Capability
Power supply designers are often concerned about the ripple current capabilities of capacitors on both the input and output sides of converters. The biggest concern is the internal temperature rise caused by the I2R power consumption of the capacitor. Since tantalums are a polar device, this ripple should always be accompanied by a DC bias. Since ESR is so dependent on frequency and temperature, the power ratings listed should be viewed as rules of thumb and not laws written in stone. The tantalum capacitors have a published data set for a 10°C rise above the ambient. The experimental set-up used to arrive at this number was emulated and done for a series of ceramic capacitor chips. It should be noted that different mounting techniques can alter the thermal conductivity greatly.
