Capacitive coupling has only been used practically in a few low power applications, because the very high voltages on the electrodes required to transmit significant power can be hazardous, and can cause unpleasant side effects such as noxious ozone production. In addition, in contrast to magnetic fields, electric fields interact strongly with most materials, including the human body, due to dielectric polarization. Intervening materials between or near the electrodes can absorb the energy, in the case of humans possibly causing excessive electromagnetic field exposure. However capacitive coupling has a few advantages over inductive coupling. The field is largely confined between the capacitor plates, reducing interference, which in inductive coupling requires heavy ferrite "flux confinement" cores. Also, alignment requirements between the transmitter and receiver are less critical. Capacitive coupling has recently been applied to charging battery powered portable devices as well as charging or continuous wireless power transfer in biomedical implants, and is being considered as a means of transferring power between substrate layers in integrated circuits.