In smartphones, IoT devices, and similar high-performance applications, power delivery is becoming the difference maker. Supplying power smoothly and efficiently over the “last inch” of the power distribution network (PDN)—immediately before it hits the application processor—is arguably the biggest challenge facing systems engineers today.
The challenge stems from the high-frequency power demands of these very high-performance chips. As one of the most basic and fundamental components in electronics, capacitors are the go-to component for smoothing out the rapid delivery of power to these mobile SoCs, and they’re used in large quantities across a variety of such designs. While traditional multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) have fulfilled the requirements thus far, stricter constraints on power density are challenging the existing model.