Direct computation of capacitance in integrated passive components containing floating conductors

This paper presents a novel method for computation of capacitance in integrated passive components (IPCs) containing floating conductors. The IPC is a multiterminal device which is arbitrarily shaped and may be composed of inhomogeneous as well as field-dependent dielectric. The one-port capacitance between any pair of terminals is determined directly, without the need to calculate the capacitance matrix. The computational technique is based on incorporating the floating conductor concept into the finite difference solution to the Laplace equation. Numerous data for practical IPCs are presented, with the results validated against measurements.