This white paper describes the design and performance of planar
capacitors fabricated with multi-material and multi-layered
Additive Manufacturing Electronics (AME) technology, enabling capacitors with different areas and different layer counts resulting in capacitance values from a few picofarads (pF) to several nanofarads
(nF).
This paper also covers AME capacitors in terms of standard capacitors, from dc to RF, allowing designers to utilize those capacitors in different electronic circuits applications and eliminate
the need to mount them as part of the component assembly
process in commercial circuit boards.
The results show a consistent relationship between theoretical and experimental capacitance values. Since the capacitors are an internal part of the circuit, parasitic capacitances, resistance, and induction
from soldering are eliminated, thus minimizing the equivalent
series resistance (ESR) and equivalent series inductance (ESL)
values, especially for RF applications.
This study demonstrates that AME capacitors behave comparatively to an ideal capacitor, delivering a superior performance when compared to surface mount technology (SMT) capacitors, which reduces and could eliminate the need for added EMC absorbent materials.
(Published by IEEE, Nov 2021)
