ESR - Equivalent Series Resistance, DF - Dissipation Factor, and Q or Quality factor are three important factors in the specification of any capacitor.
They have a marked impact on the performance of the capacitor and can govern the types of application for which the capacitor may be used.
As the three parameters are interlinked, ESR, DF and Q will all be addressed on this page.
ESR, DF and Q are all aspects of the performance of a capacitor that will affect its performance in areas such as RF operation.
However ESR, and DF are also particularly important for capacitors operating in power supplies where a high ESR and dissipation factor, DF will result in large amount of power being dissipated in the capacitor.