Five major development trends of MLCC in the future

MLCC (Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitors), that is, chip multilayer ceramic capacitors, are laminated ceramic dielectric films with printed electrodes (internal electrodes) in a staggered manner. After a one-time high-temperature sintering, a ceramic chip is formed. The two ends of the chip are sealed with a metal layer (external electrode) to form a monolithic structure, so it is also called a monolithic capacitor.

It can be seen that the internal electrodes are stacked by one layer to increase the area of the capacitor plates, thereby increasing the capacitance.

The ceramic medium is the internal filling medium, and the characteristics of capacitors made of different dielectrics are different. Some have large capacity, some have good temperature characteristics, and some have good frequency characteristics. This is why there are so many types of ceramic capacitors.

MLCC is known as "Electronic Industry Rice". MLCC has the advantages of small size, high volume-to-capacity ratio, easy SMT, etc., and is widely used in consumer electronics, communications, automotive electronics, home appliances and other fields.

In the future, MLCC will continue to develop in the direction of high-voltage, high-frequency and high reliability to meet the ever-changing downstream terminal market demand.

1) High voltage: With the evolution of power supply device circuit design, the demand for LED lighting is expected to rise, and the demand for high voltage capacitors of 3~4KV will continue to increase.

2) High frequency: The working frequency of MLCC has entered the millimeter wave frequency range. In order to meet the high performance and multi-function requirements of electronic circuits, the working frequency of LSI is getting higher and higher, which also proposes a higher level of low impedance power supply. Requirement, the market has become more urgent for MLCCs with low impedance and low inductance ESR/ESL that can be used in broadband (MHz-GHz).

3) High reliability: For automotive MLCCs, MLCCs need to operate stably in extreme temperature environments, impact transmission conditions such as bending strength, and extreme environments such as high humidity (humidity 85%); at the same time, they need to be trusted by automotive electronic parts It is certified by AEC-Q200 (certification specifications related to automotive passive components), and the production standards are stringent. Therefore, the high reliability requirements of MLCC will continue to increase in the future.

4) Miniaturization and small size: The market demand for lighter and thinner terminal equipment and complete functions has promoted the development of MLCC in the direction of miniaturization and small size.

On the one hand, consumers are keen on "lightweight and thin" mobile electronic devices, driving the miniaturization of electronic products. On the other hand, as smart phones become more comprehensive and richer in functions, it is expected that the electronic circuits in the fuselage will increase substantially. Therefore, it is necessary to further reduce the volume of capacitors such as MLCC in order to implant more electronic components in the body of a mobile phone that is shrinking. In 2008 and 2016, the MLCC used in smartphones was dominated by 0402 and 0201 size series products, respectively. In the future, 01005 and 008004 series will occupy a dominant position.

5) Large capacity: In order to match the ever-increasing functions of the terminal, the battery capacity increases, and MLCC is required to develop towards a large-capacity trend. Due to the increase in terminal configuration functions, the battery capacity becomes larger, and the stable and fast charging of large-capacity batteries requires the configuration of large-capacity, high-quality MLCCs. Some electronic circuits use large-capacity specifications to reduce the number of MLCCs, and therefore have higher requirements for large-capacity.

HONGDA Capacitors, produce capacitors since 1999, with 20+ years experience, supply various chip MLCC, from 0201, 0402...2225, and voltage up to 4000V, stacked up to 600 layers, BME MLCC technology, help you cost down.

You can find more details from the datasheet: https://www.hongdacap.com.hk/pdf/HLC-Chip_Ceramic_Capacitors-MLCC.pdf