This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating low volume, low parasitic, i.e., low series resistance and inductance, high energy density capacitors using stacked, thin-film tantalum pentoxide dielectrics fabricated on Kapton film and tantalum foil. Low resistance capacitors will shorten both charge and discharge time, as well as lower the resistive load on the battery or power source. Low inductance is also important in high voltage systems. Power supplies have high transformation ratios with many turns for secondary windings that induce high leakage inductance. Therefore, capacitor inductance must be minimized in order to reduce the total system inductance, ultimately improving power usage factors and system efficiency. Numerous high power systems are used in the medical, defense, space, and consumer electronics industries, where substantial reduction in size and weight and increased speed and performance are desired. Special anodization techniques used to form capacitor dielectrics will allow fabrication of capacitors with a wide range of high performance configurations and characteristics that are expected to benefit all of these industrial markets. Miniaturized, high energy density thin-film capacitors are used in many high power devices, such as defibrillators, DC power supplies, and automotive electronics.
