Ceramic capacitor

A ceramic capacitor is a fixed-value capacitor where the ceramic material acts as the dielectric. It is constructed of two or more alternating layers of ceramic and a metal layer acting as the electrodes. The composition of the ceramic material defines the electrical behavior and therefore applications. Ceramic capacitors are divided into two application classes:Idealized curves of different class 1 ceramic capacitorsrepresentation of the tolerance range of temperature coefficient αConstruction of a multilayer ceramic chip capacitor (MLCC), 1 = Metallic electrodes, 2 = Dielectric ceramic, 3 = Connecting terminalsConstruction of a ceramic disc capacitorMultilayer ceramic chip capacitor (MLCC)Ceramic disc capacitor (single layer)Feedthrough ceramic capacitorHigh voltage ceramic power capacitorSamples of multilayer ceramic chip capacitorsStructure of the electrodes and the NME respectively BME metallization of the terminals of MLCC cchipsInfluence of the NME respectively BME metallization for class 2 X7R MLCC chips on the voltage dependence of capacitance.Standard MLCC chip designLow-ESL design of a MLCC chipMLCC chip arrayX2Y decoupling capacitors with different case sizesInner construction of a X2Y capacitorCircuit diagram of a X2Y capacitor in a decoupling circuitCorrect mounted and soldered MLCC chip on a PCBMicrograph of broken ceramic in a MLCC chipSimplified figure of a bending test for soldered MLCCStandard MLCC chip, short circuit possible if ceramic breaks due to mechanical stress„Open-Mode-Design' MLCC chip, a break only reduces the capacitance value'Floating-Electrode-Design'-MLCC, a break only reduces the capacitance value'Flex-Termination' - MLCC chips, a flexible contact layer prevents breaking of the ceramic.Appliance Class I capacitor connectionAppliance Class II capacitor connectionDoorknob style high voltage ceramic capacitorDisc style power ceramic capacitorTubular or pot style power ceramic capacitorSimplified diagram of the change in capacitance as a function of the applied voltage for 25-V capacitors in different kind of ceramic gradesSimplified diagram of the change in capacitance as a function of applied voltage for X7R ceramics with different rated voltages A ceramic capacitor is a fixed-value capacitor where the ceramic material acts as the dielectric. It is constructed of two or more alternating layers of ceramic and a metal layer acting as the electrodes. The composition of the ceramic material defines the electrical behavior and therefore applications. Ceramic capacitors are divided into two application classes: Ceramic capacitors, especially multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), are the most produced and used capacitors in electronic equipment that incorporate approximately one trillion (1012) pieces per year. Ceramic capacitors of special shapes and styles are used as capacitors for RFI/EMI suppression, as feed-through capacitors and in larger dimensions as power capacitors for transmitters. Since the beginning of the study of electricity non conductive materials such as glass, porcelain, paper and mica have been used as insulators. These materials some decades later were also well-suited for further use as the dielectric for the first capacitors. Even in the early years of Marconi's wireless transmitting apparatus, porcelain capacitors were used for high voltage and high frequency application in the transmitters. On the receiver side, the smaller mica capacitors were used for resonant circuits. Mica dielectric capacitors were invented in 1909 by William Dubilier. Prior to World War II, mica was the most common dielectric for capacitors in the United States. Mica is a natural material and not available in unlimited quantities. So in the mid-1920s the deficiency of mica in Germany and the experience in porcelain—a special class of ceramic—led in Germany to the first capacitors using ceramic as dielectric, founding a new family of ceramic capacitors. Paraelectric titanium dioxide (rutile) was used as the first ceramic dielectric because it had a linear temperature dependence of capacitance for temperature compensation of resonant circuits and can replace mica capacitors. 1926 these ceramic capacitors were produced in small quantities with increasing quantities in the 1940s. The style of these early ceramics was a disc with metallization on both sides contacted with tinned wires. This style predates the transistor and was used extensively in vacuum-tube equipment (e.g., radio receivers) from about 1930 through the 1950s. But this paraelectric dielectric had relatively low permittivity so that only small capacitance values could be realized. The expanding market of radios in the 1930s and 1940s create a demand for higher capacitance values but below electrolytic capacitors for HF decoupling applications. Discovered in 1921, the ferroelectric ceramic material barium titanate with a permittivity in the range of 1,000, about ten times greater than titanium dioxide or mica, began to play a much larger role in electronic applications.