Recovery Voltage Measurements with Emphasis Below One Second for Class I NPO Ceramic Capacitors

It has been known for some time that dielectric absorption in the integrator capacitor constitutes a fundamental limitation on the accuracy of analog electronic integrator circuits. However, little dielectric absorption information is available for monolithic ceramic chip capacitors. Yet, such ceramic chip capacitors appear to be the only alternative for most applications where hybrid construction techniques are required. To provide insight into the possibility of using ceramic capacitors in such applications a number of recovery voltage measurements were made using NPO-type ceramic capacitors. The limits of the results are reported. Particular emphasis is given to the interval below one second. The technique used to perform the measurements was based on the method described by Dow. The apparatus used to make the measurements is described.