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Revision as of 08:28, 30 August 2005 by Thedatastream (talk | contribs) (created article)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Leakage is a property of dielectric materials used in capacitors, also known as dielectric leakage. It is a result of the dielectric material having a finite resistance and therefore carrying a current (known as the leakage current) due to the voltage across it. This results in capacitors discharging themselves over time (analagous to a bucket full of water with a hole in it, the size of hole relating to the amount of leakage)
The dielectric material can be selected to have low leakage, which can be required for some electronics applications such as sample and hold circuits.