Effects of X Capacitors on EMI Filter Effectiveness

The suppression mechanism of the differential-mode noise of an X capacitor in offline power supplies is, for the first time, attributed to two distinct concepts: 1) impedance mismatch (regarding a line impedance stabilization network or mains and the equivalent power supply noise source impedance) and 2) C(dv/dt) noise current balancing (to suppress mix-mode noise). The effectiveness of X capacitors is investigated with this theory, along with experimental supports. Understanding of the two aforementioned mechanisms gives better insight into filter effectiveness, which may lead to a more compact filter design.