Time-domain analysis of resonant acoustic nonlinearity arising from cracks in multilayer ceramic capacitors

Acoustic nonlinearity of cracked and uncracked multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) was characterized through time-domain analysis of resonant waveforms following tone-burst excitation. A phase-sensitive receiver was employed to measure the phase, relative to a reference sinusoid, of decaying oscillations of a resonant mode near 1 MHz that was excited through ferroelectric coupling within the barium-titanate-based ceramic of the MLCC. Amplitude dependence of the resonant frequency during decay of the oscillations was characterized through measurements of changes in the resonant phase versus time. Waveforms were analyzed by fitting the recorded RF amplitude versus time to a decaying exponential and inserting the parameters of this fit into a second function to fit the time-dependent phase, with amplitude dependence of the resonant frequency incorporated in the second function. The measurements and analyses were performed on unmounted type-1210 MLCCs before and after quenching in ice water from elevated te...