What is a Tantalum Capacitor? Tantalum capacitors are electrolytic capacitors that use tantalum metal for the anode. They are polarized capacitors with superior frequency and stability characteristics. What makes tantalum capacitors unique is the usage of tantalum for the anode of the device. This anode is set up as one chunk of material inside of the case, which is very different from the layering style used in MLCC capacitors where the material is sandwiched on itself and then capped on the ends. Using tantalum results in a very thin dielectric layer, resulting in a higher capacitance per volume and allowing for smaller capacitors that can still meet the needs of modern systems. In addition to the nice gain in capacitance per volume, the tantalum capacitors also have very low ESR or Equivalent Series Resistance reducing system losses. A downside of low ESR is that it may be too low to achieve stability in power supply regulators, which needs to be taken into account. Why Us...