Capacitor types for Voltage multiplier circuits

Question

What type of capacitor consruction would be the safest and most robust for half wave voltage multiplier circuits @ 60Hz to around 20Kv?

I have been considering polypropylene box style...thoughts?

I also want to construct a similar circuit, except with variable frequency and duty cycle to the input of the multiplier to around 35KHz.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

D_Hersey · Accepted Answer

I think any capacitor that is rated above these potentials should work. Ceramics are the traditional ones used, but this is probably mostly for reasons of economy. Polypropylene caps are prized for their linearity and stability, so we often find them in HiFis and sample/hold or track/hold circuits. Ceramics are probably also chosen for their low parasitic inductances. HV caps that need to be accurate or fast are usually either Teflon or Silver-Mica. Even though mica is a natural material, it gives gold-Teflon at least a good run for the money. Nowadays, I might look into modern variant of the ceramic, co-fired mult-ilayer ceramic capacitor. If they make these rated at the potentials you require, they would be a little more volumetrically efficient

clem57 · Answer

http://www.voltagemultipliers.com/start.htm

Capacitor types for Voltage multiplier circuits

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