Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor Inner Electrode Sintering Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multilayer ceramic capacitors face a challenge in achieving high capacitance due to the low coverage of thin-layer inner electrodes, which is hindered by the sintering temperature disparity between conductive metal particles and ceramic dielectric layers, leading to reduced electrode continuity.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a silver/palladium alloy with ceramic materials like (Ag0.7, Pd0.3) TiO3, NaTiO3, or EuTiO3 into the inner electrodes, which maintains high coverage even when formed as thin layers, thereby increasing capacitance by aligning the sintering temperatures closer to those of the dielectric layers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the thickness of inner electrodes is reduced to form thin layers, then the size of the multilayer ceramic capacitor is reduced, but the coverage of the inner electrodes decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the sintering temperature parameter by adding a common material to the conductive paste, shifting the sintering temperature of metal particles to be closer to that of the ceramic dielectric layer. This temperature parameter adjustment enables thin-layer inner electrodes to achieve high coverage (80% or more) even at thicknesses of 1 μm or less, resolving the contradiction between reduced size and maintained coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite conductive paste containing both metal particles (silver, palladium, or their alloys) and a common material (ceramic material with composition similar to the dielectric layer). This composite formulation allows the inner electrodes to maintain high coverage when formed as thin layers, enabling size reduction without sacrificing electrode continuity.
2Manufacturing precision
If the sintering temperature of metal particles is increased to improve coverage, then the coverage of inner electrodes increases, but the temperature difference between metal particle sintering and ceramic sintering decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adjusts the sintering temperature parameter of the conductive paste by incorporating a common material, shifting the metal particle sintering temperature closer to the ceramic sintering temperature. This parameter change achieves high coverage (80% or more) for thin-layer inner electrodes while minimizing the temperature difference between the two sintering processes, ensuring coordinated shrinkage and improved electrode continuity.
3Temperature
If common material is added to conductive paste to shift sintering temperature, then the sintering temperature of metal particles increases, but the sintering temperature remains lower than ceramic sintering temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the composition and amount of common material added to the conductive paste to achieve the maximum possible shift in sintering temperature. By carefully controlling the ratio of metal particles to common material, the patent brings the metal particle sintering temperature as close as possible to the ceramic sintering temperature, achieving coverage of 80% or more even for inner electrodes with thickness of 1 μm or less.
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
The use of silver/palladium alloy with these ceramic materials ensures increased coverage and capacitance of multilayer ceramic capacitors, as demonstrated by experimental examples achieving coverage of 80% or more, even at thin layer thicknesses of 1 μm or less.
Implementation Method 1
the sintering temperature of conductive metal particles included in conductive paste films that are to be the inner electrodes is lower than the sintering temperature of the ceramic that forms the dielectric layers, which means that the metal particles included in the inner electrodes are sintered first
Data Source
AI summary
A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a multilayer body including dielectric layers made of ceramic and stacked together, and inner electrodes arranged along multiple interfaces between the dielectric layers, with each inner electrode extending along a respective interface. The inner electrodes include a silver/palladium alloy as a conductive material and also include at least one of (Ag0.7, Pd0.3)TiO3, NaTiO3, and EuTiO3.