MAX232DW - supporting capacitors

Please refer to this doc (max232dw). Page 10 shows typ circuit.

My question if I use 1 uF /25V of size 0201 in my design for the required supporting CAPs on that page , will my circuit functioning well?

Is there any difference when using 0201 with respect to say 0805 capacitor for the same value of 1 uF/25V in this design?

Q2. Does VCC pin 16 of this chip also use 1 uF capacitor … and not 0.1 uF?

Thank you

My question if I use 1 uF /25V of size 0201 in my design for the required supporting CAPs on that page will my circuit functioning well? Is there any difference when using 0201 with respect to say 0805 capacitor for the same value of 1 uF/25V in this design?

Answer:

I would like to preface this with one caveat. There may be some LC stuff that goes on that I am not aware of as a technician and I do invite any engineer to let me know if I am mistaken, but from my understanding as long as the leads are short to the part, there shouldn’t be a practical difference in performance. I would suggest the larger capacitor would be more resistant to changes in temperature and this could potentially offer a more consistent part, at least in theory. I do not think you would actually see a performance difference that matters.

Does VCC pin 16 of this chip also use 1 uF capacitor … and not 0.1 uF?

Answer:

The chip you inquired about was the MAX232DW. This one should use a 1uF capacitor on pin 16 (VCC). The 0.1uF capacitor is an option for higher ESD protection on the MAX202.


This snip was taken from the data sheet referenced:

Link to Data Sheet

I found possible options in the following three categories. Click the links to see them.

Surface Mount, MLCC Ceramic Capacitors

Surface Mount Tantalum Capacitors

Tantalum - Polymer Capacitors

I hope this helps!

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First, I’m not confident that a 1uF/25V ceramic capacitor is available in an 0201 package at this point, but it would almost certainly be a terrible capacitor if it were. Second, whether or not a given circuit would function well for you depends on many factors, including the characteristics of a connected receiving device, operating temperature range, etc.

Absolutely, yes. As described in this thread, the measured value of common ceramic capacitors can easily change by a factor of 10 in response to factors including temperature and DC voltage, with the effect generally becoming worse with decreasing package size for a given C*V rating.

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Thank you. By the way, I bought the 0201 capacitors. You can find some at Digikey as well.

Thank you, inspiring answer