Tantalum capacitors have thin-film fuses

Devices in the TAW series of fused tantalum capacitors from AVX protect against damaging high DC leakage currents at high currents.

Short circuit failure mode protection is accomplished using an internal fuse connected in series with the capacitor.

And, as the fuse is fabricated using thin film technology, these components are very reliable, ultrafast and exhibit the lowest ESR of any commercially available fused tantalum capacitors.

When the fuse exceeds its current limit, the fused capacitor will fail safe by effectively removing itself from the circuit by creating a high resistance path of at least 10Mohm.

In some cases this can mean the difference between a total circuit loss and barely detectible performance degradation.

Unlike conventional devices that incorporate an embedded lead wire fuse, the TAW series tantalum capacitors are fully lead-free and RoHS compliant.

High-reliability applications such as aerospace, automotive, servers and telecomms infrastructure products will benefit from their improved design.