Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor with Extended Electrodes for Creeping Distance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-voltage inverter circuits require capacitors that can secure a sufficient creeping distance to prevent discharge, but existing film capacitors with metal terminals face challenges in miniaturization, heat generation, and increased equivalent series resistance, making them unsuitable for modern demands.
Innovation Solution
A multilayer ceramic electronic component design featuring a multilayer body with dielectric and inner electrode layers, where the inner electrode layers have extended sections to increase the creeping distance and reduce heat generation, and metal terminals are connected to outer electrodes with a non-conductive exterior material to enhance electrostatic capacitance density.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If film capacitors with metal terminals are used to secure creeping distance, then discharge prevention is improved, but device size increases and heat generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from planar electrode arrangement to three-dimensional stacked layers, allowing multiple electrode pairs to be arranged vertically. This enables sufficient creeping distance to be achieved through vertical stacking rather than horizontal expansion, thus preventing discharge while maintaining compact size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent embeds multiple electrode layers within a compact multilayer structure, where inner electrodes are nested between dielectric layers. This nested arrangement allows multiple capacitive elements to occupy overlapping spatial footprints, achieving both compact size and adequate discharge paths through vertical separation.
2Reliability
If film capacitors with metal terminals are used to secure creeping distance, then discharge prevention is improved, but heat generation increases due to increased equivalent series resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material structures combining dielectric layers with conductive electrode materials in a multilayer configuration. This composite approach optimizes both electrical performance (reducing equivalent series resistance) and discharge prevention capabilities, eliminating the heat generation issue associated with metal terminals while maintaining creeping distance.
3Reliability
If inner electrode layers are extended to increase creeping distance, then discharge prevention is improved, but electrostatic capacitance density decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by utilizing the vertical dimension through multiple stacked layers. Extended electrode sections are arranged in different vertical levels, allowing them to overlap in the vertical direction while maintaining horizontal separation for discharge prevention. This enables both extended creeping paths and high capacitance density through three-dimensional space utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nested electrode arrangements where extended electrode sections of different polarity are interlocked in a nested pattern across multiple layers. This nested configuration maximizes the overlapping area between opposing electrodes while maintaining the required creeping distance through vertical and lateral separation, thereby achieving both discharge prevention and high capacitance density.
Data Source
AI summary
A multilayer ceramic electronic component includes an electronic component main body including a first outer electrode disposed on a first side surface of a multilayer body, and a second outer electrode spaced apart from the first outer electrode and disposed on the first side surface, a first metal terminal connected to the first outer electrode, a second metal terminal connected to the second outer electrode, and an exterior material. The first side surface or a second side surface opposes a mounting surface of a mounting substrate, first and second inner electrode layers are disposed perpendicularly or substantially perpendicularly to the mounting surface, and a portion of the first side surface, the first and second outer electrodes, and a portion of the first and second metal terminals are covered with the exterior material.