TDK Corporation announced a new generation of EPCOS CeraLinkTM capacitors, a highly compact solution for snubber and DC links of fast-switching converters based on SiC and GaN semiconductors. These new capacitors are based on the ceramic material PLZT (lead lanthanum zirconate titanate). In contrast to conventional ceramic capacitors, CeraLink has its maximum capacitance at the application voltage, and this increases proportionately to the share of the ripple voltage. The smallest version of the CeraLink is the SMD low-profile variant with a capacitance of 1 µF at a rated voltage of 500 V DC. A great advantage of the SMD low-profile CeraLink versions is that they can be embedded in IGBT modules because of their compact dimensions. This results in a very low-inductance design, so that no significant overvoltages are produced with the semiconductors are switched.
