Capacitive Coupling in T-Shape Related EMI Filters: Mechanism, Effects, and Mitigation

Attenuation performance of an EMI filter can be significantly degraded by coupling, parasitics, and frequency-dependent nonlinearity of magnetic cores. In this paper, the effect due to mutual capacitive coupling in filter structures with T-shape joint is identified and investigated. Its mechanism indicates that this coupling is the dominant cause of performance degradation in T-shape filters. PCB slits and grounded shielding are proposed as two effective mitigation solutions, respectively, and are further combined to improve filter transfer gain up to 40 dB along the high frequency range. Experimental results obtained from a three-phase LCL common-mode (CM) filter verify the significant impact of this coupling and the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation methods.