Thermal aging effects on the electrical properties of film and ceramic capacitors

Experiments are carried out to evaluate film and ceramic capacitors for potential use in high temperature applications. The capacitors are characterized in terms of their capacitance stability and dielectric loss in the frequency range of 50 Hz to 100 kHz at temperatures of 20/spl deg/C to 200/spl deg/C. DC leakage current measurements are also obtained as a function of temperature. The effects of thermal stressing, in air and without electrical bias, on the properties of the capacitors are determined as a function of thermal aging up to 12 weeks. The results indicated that short-term aging has minimal influence on the dielectric properties of both the teflon and ceramic type capacitors.