Decoupling: Basics

TECHNICAL
INFORMATION
DECOUPLING: BASICS
by Arch Martin
AVX Corporation
Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Abstract:
This paper discusses the characteristics of multilayer
ceramic capacitors in decoupling applications and
compares their performance with other types of
decoupling capacitors. A special high-frequency test
circuit is described and the results obtained using various
types of capacitors are shown.
Introduction
LC
CC
ZC = Î RC2 + (XC - XL)2
RC
XC =
1
2pfCC
XL = 2pfLC
K
3
1
Z2
ZX
Z
Fig. 2. Total capacitor impedance
Z
The rapid changes occurring in the semiconductor
industry are requiring new performance criteria of
their supporting components. One of these components is the decoupling capacitor used in almost every
circuit design. As the integrated circuits have become
faster and more dense, the application design considerations have created a need to redefine the capacitor
parameters and its performance in high-speed environments. Faster edge rates, larger currents, denser
boards and spiraling costs have all served to focus
upon the need for better and more efficient decoupling techniques.
As integrated circuits have grown, so has the
demand for multilayer ceramic capacitors.
z
BRIDGE
EXCITATION
VARIABLE E & F
UNKNOWN
The phenomenal growth of multilayer ceramic capacitors over the last few years has been a result of their
ability to satisfy these new requirements. We at AVX
are continually studying these new requirements
from the application view in order to better define
what is required of the capacitor now and in the
future, so that we can develop even better capacitor
designs. Some results of these studies are the subject
of this paper.
Background
A capacitor is an electrical device consisting of two
metal conductors isolated by a nonconducting material capable of storing electrical charge for release at a
controlled rate and at a specified time. Its usefulness
is determined by its ability to store electrical energy.
An equivalent circuit for capacitors is shown in
Fig. 2. This equivalent circuit of three series impedances can be represented by one lumped impedance
which is used as a measure of the capacitance (Fig. 3).
In other words, the amount of coulombs stored are
not measured; what is measured is the lumped
impedance and from this value an equivalent capacitance value is calculated.
ZS
ZX =
ZX =
Z1Z3
Z2
(When ZX ,,,Z3)
uZ1u . uZ3u
Z2
UX = U1 + U3 - U2
Fig. 3. Basic impedance bridge
Thus capacitance as measured is actually a combination of the capacitive reactance, the inductive
reactance and the equivalent series resistance.
As shown in Fig. 4, all three of these series impedances vary differently with frequency. Since all
three vary at different rates with frequency, the
capacitance calculated from the resultant impedance
is made up of different components at different frequencies. This can be seen by increasing the lead
length of a capacitor while it is being measured at
1 MHz on an equivalent series capacitance bridge and
watching the capacitance increase. Increased inductance (increased lead length) actually increases the
capacitance value read by the capacitance bridge
(Fig. 5).
IMPEDANCE
Z
XL
ESR
XC
FREQUENCY
Fig. 4. Variation of impedance with frequency
L
1/vC
jVL
XC
J
XCeq = XC + XL
1
=
jvCeq
XCeq
1
Ceq
=
1
Ceq
=
Ceq
=
XC
1
+ jvL
jvC
1
C
- v2L
IMPEDANCE, V
XL
1.0
C
XL
0.1
1 - v2LC
C
C
1 - v2LC
AS "L" INCREASES "Ceq" INCREASES
Fig. 5. Effects of inductance
0.02
RC
1
10
100
MEGAHERTZ
Fig. 6. Major impedance components
The major components of a typical impedance
curve vs. frequency are shown in Fig. 6. Below resonance, the major component is capacitive reactance,
at resonance it is equivalent series resistance, and
above resonance it is inductive reactance. In decoupling today’s high-speed digital circuits the capacitor
is primarily being used to eliminate high-speed tran-
sient noise which is above its resonance point, an area
where inductive reactance is the major impedance
component. In these applications it is desirable to
maintain as low an inductance or totol impedance as
possible. For effective and economical designs it is
important to define the performance of the capacitor
under the circuit conditions in which it will be used.
High-Frequency Testing
The test schematic shown in Fig. 7 can be used to
determine the performance of various styles of capacitors at high frequencies. Lead lengths are minimized
through the use of the test fixture shown in Fig. 8.
This test set-up is intended to duplicate the performance of the capacitor under actual use conditions.
The Hewlett-Packard current generator supplies
high-frequency pulses equivalent to an actual digital
IC circuit. Edge rates of 200 mA/10 ns or 200 mA/5 ns
are fed to the capacitor to determine its performance.
Edge rates in the 5 to 10-ns range were chosen for
testing since transients in this range are common to
many designs such as shown in Fig. 9, where transients in the 5 to 10-ns range occur regularly on a
DEC VAX 11/780 memory board using Mostek 4116
dynamic RAMs.
100
90
10
0%
SCALE:
HORIZONTAL = 1mS/DIV
VERTICAL
= 5MV/DIV
50V TERM
TEKTRONIX
001-0049-01
50V
HP8012B
TEKTRONIX
475A OR
EQUIVALENT
INDUCTANCE TEST FIXTURE
Fig. 7. High-frequency test schematic
X
X
COPPER-CLAD
PC BOARD.
X INDICATES
TEST AREAS
Fig. 9. Transients from VDD to VSS in 256K byte
dynamic memory (Mostek 4116) in DEC VAX 11/780
All three components (capacitive, resistive, and
inductive) are evident on the scope trace (Fig. 10)
obtained by using the test circuit of Fig. 7. Thus the
performance of a capacitor can be described under
typical use conditions for capacitance (C = Idt⁄di), equivalent series resistance (ESR = VA/I), and inductance
(L = VL dt⁄di). This information can then be used to
select a capacitor having the required characteristics
for the application.
100
90
dv
__ (C = 1dt
___ )
dv
dt
VL
dt
(L=VL __ )
di
10
0%
__A )
VR(ESR = V
1
SCALE:
HORIZONTAL = 50NS/DIV
VERTICAL
= 50MV/DIV
COAXIAL CABLE
TO SCOPE AND PULSE
GENERATOR
Fig. 8. Inductance test fixture
Fig. 10. Scope trace of 0.22-µF film capacitor using test setup
of Fig. 7 and 200 mA/10 ns input
100
90
100
90
10
0%
10
0%
SCALE:
HORIZONTAL = 50NS/DIV
VERTICAL
= 100MV/DIV
Fig. 11 (A). Scope trace of 0.1-µF tantalum capacitor using
test setup of Fig. 7 and 200 mA/10 ns input
SCALE:
HORIZONTAL = 50NS/DIV
VERTICAL
= 100MV/DIV
Fig. 11 (B). Scope trace of 0.1-µF multilayer ceramic capacitor
using same test setup and input
Test Results
Figures 11(A) and 11(B) compare the results of
testing a 0.1-µF rated multilayer ceramic capacitor
with a 0.1-µF rated tantalum capacitor. The slope of
the curve, dv/dt, is a measure of the capacitance in
the time domain of interest. For the ceramic this is
approximately 0.1 µF but for the tantalum the value
is 0.05 µF or approximately half the capacitance of
the ceramic.
Another way to state this is at constant current:
C
dv
C
dv
Tantalum dt = I = Ceramic dt
C
0.2
= C
0.1
T 50 x 10-9
C 50 x 10-9
C =
T
1
⁄2
C
C
The induced voltage generated in response to the
200 mA/10 ns edge rate can be used to determine the
inductance of the capacitor. Under these conditions
the tantalum shows 2.5 times the inductance of the
multilayer ceramic (MLC) capacitor:
L = V dt
L di
Ceramic
Tantalum
-9
L = 0.1 10 x 10
0.2
L = 5.0 nH
-9
L = 0.25 10 x 10
0.2
L = 12.5 nH
The ESR is obtained from the minimum voltage
reached after the voltage spike. In the case of the
ceramic the ESR is too small to measure on the scale
used, i.e., less than 5 mΩ. The ESR for the tantalum
can be determined with the VR = 150-mV reading
giving an ESR = 750 mΩ.
Both the MLC and the tantalum capacitors were
tested with equal lead lengths. Removal of the leads
reduces the inductance obtained for the MLC (now an
MLC chip capacitor) to VL = 20 mV for an inductance
of 1 nH.
This test procedure can be used to compare the
performance of various styles of capacitors. Fig. 12
compares the performance of MLC and a film capacitor. Both units show dv/dt equivalent to the capacitance values read at 1 kHz (0.22 µF for the film and
0.20 µF for the MLC). The MLC shows a voltage
spike of 75 mV vs. the 275-mV spike for the film, i.e.,
the film had 3.7 times the inductance of the MLC.
In addition, the MLC had half the ESR of the film
capacitor.
The initial voltage spikes found from an input of
200 mA/5 ns edge rate are given in Table I for various
capacitor values and styles. The equivalent inductances for these values are shown in Table II. These
results are based on essentially zero lead lengths for
all types. From a practical standpoint, the lead length
inductances shown in Table III must be added to values of Table II in order to mate the capacitor with the
PC board.
CAPACITOR
FILMS:
BRAND A
BRAND B
BRAND C
BRAND D
100
90
0.22mF FILM
0.20mF CERAMIC
10
0%
SCALE:
HORIZONTAL = 20NS/DIV
VERTICAL
= 100MV/DIV
Fig. 12. Comparison of 0.2-µF MLC with
0.22-µF film capacitor
CAPACITOR
FILMS:
BRAND A
BRAND B
BRAND C
BRAND D
170
110
180
300
240
120
300
—
—
120
—
230
470
140
350
—
—
—
—
—
TANTALUMS:
BRAND E
—
380
—
380
—
ALUMINUMS:
BRAND F
—
630
—
400
—
—
70
—
70
90
—
—
—
50
—
40
50
—
—
—
80
130
140
210
—
AVX MLC’S
CONFORMAL
RADIALS
MOLDED
RADIALS
DIP’S
MOLDED
AXIALS
Table I. Voltage spikes (mV) from 200 mA/5 ns edge rate
with essentially zero lead lengths
.01µF .1µF .22µF 1.0µF 2.2µF
4.3
2.8
4.5
7.5
6.0
3.0
7.5
—
—
3.0
—
5.8
11.8
3.5
8.8
—
—
—
—
—
TANTALUMS:
BRAND E
—
9.5
—
9.5
—
ALUMINUMS:
BRAND F
— 15.8
—
10.0
—
AVX MLC’S
CONFORMAL
RADIALS
MOLDED
RADIALS
DIP’S
MOLDED
AXIALS
.01µF .1µF .22µF 1.0µF 2.2µF
—
1.8
—
1.8
2.3
—
—
—
1.3
—
1.0
1.3
—
—
—
2.0
3.3
3.5
5.3
—
Table II. Inductances (nH) from 200 mA/5 ns edge rate
with essentially zero lead lengths
TYPICAL
LEAD LEAD LEAD LEAD
VL
IMP.
CAPACITOR TYPE LENGTH L
(MM)
(NH)
(MV)
(Ω)
FILMS:
BRAND A
BRAND B
BRAND C
BRAND D
3.81
2.54
3.81
2.54
1.5
1.0
1.5
1.0
60
40
60
40
0.9
0.6
0.9
0.6
TANTALUMS:
BRAND E
5.08
2.0
80
1.3
ALUMINUMS:
BRAND F
4.45
1.8
70
1.1
2.54
1.0
40
0.6
2.54
5.08
1.0
2.0
40
80
0.6
1.3
7.62
3.0
120
1.9
AVX MLC’S
CONFORMAL
RADIALS
MOLDED
RADIALS
DIP’S
MOLDED
AXIALS
Table III. Typical lead lengths required to connect capacitor to
PC board
Decoupling
The above capacitor models can be used to optimize the decoupling of integrated-circuit designs. As
an example, the decoupling requirements of dynamic
RAMs will be discussed. Dynamic RAMs have large
transients which are generated during their refresh
cycle. These large transients require careful attention
to the decoupling techniques to avoid “V bump” or
“soft” error problems.
POWER-SUPPLY
DRIFT
+
NOM. VOLTAGE
BULK CURRENTS
HIGH FREQ. NOISE
di
V = L __
dt
dv
I = C __
dt
Fig. 13. Three factors causing voltage variations
The function of the capacitor can be illustrated by
referring to Fig. 13. Through time, the three factors
causing voltage variations are: dc drift, bulk variations, and switching transients. Dc drift is independent upon power-supply design and not on the board
level decoupling. Bulk variations come about by the
current demands of recharging the internal storage
cells during the refresh cycle. Transient “noise”
comes from switching currents internal to the IC
chip. The total of these three voltage variations must
be maintained within the allowed tolerance for the IC
device. In other words, if the voltage drops below the
operating margin of the IC, a “soft” error will occur.
The board low-frequency surge current to be
supported by the bulk capacitance is effectively the
IC’s average refresh active current for the length of a
refresh cycle. This can be determined by referring to
the IC spec (and assuming worst-case that stand-by
current is zero and active current is maximum). The
traditional approach for calculating bulk capacitance
requirements is to multiply the capacitance needed
per package times the number of packages on the
board. This arrives at the total capacitance required,
which is then approximated with large-value capacitors around the periphery of the circuits.
It is more effective to distribute this capacitance
throughout the design with smaller value capacitors
whose combined total meets or exceeds the bulkcurrent requirement. Distribution of the bulk
requirement to capacitors adjacent to the current
requirements (the IC chip) is beneficial in reducing
inductance and resistive voltage drops. Slight
increases in the distributed transient capacitor values
can typically eliminate the need for large capacitors
to supply bulk current.
Transient noise is commonly called in the industry
“V bump,” and reflects the supply transient induced
by the chip itself on the decoupling capacitor when
various clocks fire on-chip and drive on-chip capacitance associated with that event (such as address
decoding). Since actual loads switched are small
(20 pF), the size of the decoupling capacitor is less
important than its inductance.
Using capacitors for reducing the line “noise” that
comes from switching internal to the IC chip requires
low inherent inductance within the decoupling capacitor and effective board design. Multilayer ceramic
capacitors are available in values high enough to meet
distributed bulk requirements while maintaining low
inductance at high frequencies.
When a capacitor is mounted on a board, lead
lengths and board lines (device to capacitor to
ground) are a major source of inductance. This inductance must be minimized to obtain good decoupling
performance under high-speed transient conditions.
Minimum lead lengths, wiring, and gridding of power
supplies and ground with alternate parallel paths are
important as is the quality of the capacitor (Fig. 14).
The use of multiple capacitors instead of a few large
bulk capacitors can be used to decrease line lengths
and to increase path numbers (gridding) for reduced
inductance and more effective surge-current availability.
0.9"
0.2"
0.1mF
(0.2")
Fig. 14. Circuit board line and capacitor lead lengths
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