Study of the ceramic capacitor dielectric for pulsed power

Summary form only given. In this work it is shown that the dielectric constant or the capacitance of commercial capacitors are dependent on the following parameters: the voltage applied, the charge and discharge of pulse repetition rate, temperature, and frequency. The study of these parameters is essential for applications of ceramic capacitors in high-energy storage systems and in nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) used for RF generation. To accomplish that two basic circuits are described for measuring the capacitance or ε: 1) on static conditions (i.e. by varying the charging DC voltage across C for checking the dielectric nonlinearity) and 2) on dynamic conditions (under pulse repetition rate or temperature variation) to determine the respective C variation. Finally, the ESR (equivalent series resistance) of the dielectric and its dissipation factor are also measured using an Agilent LCR bridge/ 30 MHz to verify the ceramic capacitor losses, a key issue for NLTL applications as the line attenuation constant increases with frequency.