Linear and Nonlinear Capacitors

As essential elements in electrical circuits, capacitors have been used in the operation of countless systems and devices ranging from high power engines to microcircuits. The two classes of capacitors are (1) Class I linear capacitors and (2) Class II nonlinear capacitors. In this chapter, a concise introduction of the principles and fundamental operations of capacitors from a science 

Hickey, H. V. and W. M. Villines. 1970. Elements of Electronics. New York McGraw Hill. 

Halliday, D., R. Resnick, and J. Walker. 2008. Fundamentals of Physics, 8th ed. New York John Wiley Sons, pp. 600-900. 

Ballou, G. 1993. The Electrical Engineering Handbook. Boca Raton CRC Press. 

Dielectric Constants Chart [online], http //www.asunstruments.com/ technical.asp [accessed May 22,2012]. 

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Depending on the dielectric materials and applications, various types of capacitors have been designed, fabricated, and commercialized. These capacitors are categorized as fixed, variable, power, high voltage, interference suppression, ferrodielectric, polar polymer dielectric, linear, and nonlinear capacitors [7]. The following sections will briefly discuss each type. 

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