Film capacitors are electrical capacitors with an insulating plastic film as the dielectric, sometimes combined with paper as the carrier of the electrodes.
A key advantage of modern film capacitor internal construction is direct contact to the electrodes on both ends of the winding. This contact keeps all current paths to the entire electrode very short. This makes them especially suitable for applications with very high surge currents (snubbers) and for AC power applications, or for applications at higher frequencies.
Another feature of film capacitors is the possibility of choosing different film materials to select for desirable electrical characteristics, such as stability, wide temperature range, or ability to withstand very high voltages.
Typical capacitance values of smaller film capacitors used in electronics start around 100 picofarads and extend upwards to microfarads.
