3 ms·
Huh, I didn't know bulky capacitors were still a thing? I thought we got rid of those with the transition to switched-mode power supplies, most of which nowaday
by crote 4y ago
Huh, I didn't know bulky capacitors were still a thing? I thought we got rid of those with the transition to switched-mode power supplies, most of which nowadays feature inductors to smoothen the output.
The vast majority of capacitors these days are tiny SMD ceramic decoupling capacitors, which are limited in size primarily by what your PCB assembler is able to handle. The odd tantalum bulk caps aren't really a size hog either.
Unless they somehow find a way to integrate those capacitors inside the chip itself I'm not expecting this to have a massive impact on electronics, really.
- nine_k 4y agoI suppose putting the capacitors inside the IC's housing (not on the actual silicon) will save two pins per capacitor. May be a big deal in analog world.
- crote 4y agoIt is an even bigger deal for the digital world, actually. At the moment, you are pretty much required to add a capacitor right at every power pin to (among other things) prevent high-frequency radiation from escaping. It's not uncommon for moderately complex chips to need half a dozen capacitors. Capacitor placement has a huge impact on board design. Not having to worry about them anymore would save a tremendous amount of engineering effort.