Non-Linear Distortions in Capacitors

Many people have claimed that capacitors have a notable influence on the audible quality of systems. We have identified one of the major causes of non-linear distortions in capacitors. Charging the capacitor will result in an attractive force acting on the conducting plates. As no material is infinitely stiff, this force will reduce the thickness of the dielectricum and thus increase the capacitance. This process occurs in both phases of an AC signal in the same way and is thus non-linear. In this paper the consequences of this process are discussed. It should be noted that other passive components like resistors and inductors can also show similar non-linear behaviour.