Characteristics of Metallized Film Capacitors
in Comparison with Other Dielectrics

	PET	PP	PEN	PPS	NPO	X7R	Tantalum
Dielectric constant 1 kHz/23°C	3.3 (positive as temperature rise)	2.2 (negative as temperature rise)	3.0 (positive as temperature rise)	3.0 (very constant versus temperature)	12...40	700...2000	26
Operating temperature (°C)	^_55...+105	^_55...+100	^_55...+125	^_55...+140	^_55...+125	^_55...+125	^_55...+125
Dielectric absorption (%)	0.5	0.05...0.10	1	0.05	0.6	2.5	n.a.
C/C versus temperature (%)	± 5	± 2.5	± 5	± 1.5	± 1	± 15	± 10
C/C versus voltage (%)	negligible	negligible	negligible	negligible	negligible	-20	negligible
C aging rate (%/h decreasing)	negligible	negligible	negligible	negligible	negligible	2	n.a.
Dissipation factor (%) 1 kHz 10 kHz 100 kHz	0.8 1.5 3.0	0.05 0.08 0.25	0.8 1.5 3.0	0.2 0.25 0.5	0.10 0.10 0.10	2.5	8
ESR	low	very low	low	very low	low	moderate	high
Ris (M x µF) 25 °C 85 °C	10000 1000	100000 10000	10000 1000	10000 1000	10000 1000	1000 500	100 10
Capacitance range from pF to µF	220...220	27...100	1000...6.8	10000...0.47	1...0.1	100...2.2	100000...1000
Capacitance tolerance (+/- %)	5/10/20	1/2.5/5/10	5/10/20	2.5/5/10/20	5/10	10/20	10/20
Self-healing	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no	no
Typical failure mode at end of life	open	open	open	open	short	short	short
Reliability	high	high	high	high	high	moderate	low
Piezoelectric effect	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
Resistance to thermal and mechanical shock	high	high	high	high	moderate to low	moderate to low	high
Polarity	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes