Multilayer Ceramic Component External Electrode Glass Content
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multilayer ceramic electronic components face challenges in achieving both small size and large capacity while maintaining adequate chip air-tightness, as excessive or insufficient glass content in external electrode pastes can lead to defective plating and reduced reliability, especially with thinner external electrodes.
Innovation Solution
The use of a ceramic electronic component design with external electrodes composed of a conductive metal and glass, where the glass content ranges from 0.4 to 2.0 parts by weight of the conductive metal, and an average thickness of 3 μm to 30 μm, ensuring that the glass area in central portions is 35% to 80% of the total area, enhancing air-tightness and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the external electrode is made thinner to reduce component size, then the component size is reduced, but the chip air-tightness deteriorates and manufacturing precision becomes difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the external electrode by incorporating glass particles with specific size ranges (0.1-10 μm) and controlling the glass content ratio (10-50 parts by weight relative to conductive metal). This parameter optimization allows the thin electrode structure to maintain adequate air-tightness while preserving electrical conductivity and mechanical adhesion.
Solution Approach 2:
The external electrode is designed as a composite material system combining conductive metal particles (such as copper, nickel, or silver), glass particles, and organic vehicle. This composite structure enables the thin electrode to simultaneously achieve electrical conductivity from the metal, air-tightness from the glass, and proper rheological properties from the organic binder, resolving the contradiction between thickness reduction and performance maintenance.
2Reliability
If excessive glass is added to the external electrode paste to improve air-tightness, then chip air-tightness is improved, but plating properties deteriorate due to glass elution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent precisely controls the glass content parameter within 10-50 parts by weight relative to conductive metal, and optimizes the glass particle size distribution (0.1-10 μm). This parameter optimization ensures sufficient air-tightness while preventing excessive glass elution that would interfere with plating processes, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The glass particles are strategically distributed within the external electrode paste formulation, where they locally fill voids and provide air-tightness at the chip-electrode interface without concentrating in a way that would cause excessive elution during plating. This localized quality distribution resolves the contradiction between air-tightness and plating properties.
3Volume of moving object
If the external electrode is made thinner to achieve small size, then component size is reduced, but corner coverage deteriorates allowing plating solution infiltration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the particle size distribution of both conductive metal and glass particles within specific ranges, and controls the viscosity parameters of the organic vehicle. This parameter optimization ensures that the thin external electrode paste maintains adequate flowability and adhesion during application, achieving sufficient corner coverage even at reduced thickness to prevent plating solution infiltration.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite structure of conductive metal particles, glass particles, and organic vehicle creates a paste with optimized rheological properties. The glass particles provide structural support and adhesion enhancement at corners, while the organic binder ensures proper flow and coverage, enabling thin electrodes to maintain manufacturing precision despite reduced thickness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration improves high-temperature insulation resistance and prevents plating solution infiltration, maintaining reliability even with reduced external electrode thickness, by effectively filling voids and acting as an adhesive, thus enhancing the component's compactness and connectivity.
Implementation Method 1
glass as an auxiliary material to fill voids when the metal is sintered to be contracted
Implementation Method 2
provide bonding force between an external electrode and the chip
Data Source
AI summary
There are provided a multilayer ceramic electronic component comprising: a ceramic main body including a dielectric layer and having first and second main faces, third and fourth side faces opposed in a length direction, and fifth and sixth faces opposed in a width direction; first and second internal electrodes; and one or more first external electrodes formed on the fifth face and one or more second external electrodes formed on the sixth face, wherein the first and second external electrodes have an average thickness ranging from 3 μm to 30 μm, and when at least one of the first and second external electrodes is divided into three equal parts in a thickness direction, an area of glass in central area portions thereof is 35% to 80% of the total areas of the central area portions.