MLCCs Are At The Forefront Of Capacitor Miniaturization

Focus:

Capacitors have been evolving for 100 years or more. From a 0.1-µF capacitor in 3 cc of volume in the vacuum tube era to an 0201 10-uF multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) in 5.5 x 10-5 cc today, capacitors have shrunk by orders of magnitude. This article discusses the market and technology trends that have been driving down the size of MLCCs, and how the low-profile MLCCs now available can be mounted in IC packages, and even embedded in IC substrates and pc boards. The article describes the current state of the art in terms of tiny cases sizes, height requirements for co-packaging and embedding of caps, and capacitance values currently available in those heights. Other low-height alternative such as silicon and MOS, and single-layer ceramics, are also discussed. This discussion is geared toward capacitors used in on-board power delivery.

What you’ll learn:

• How to understand capacitor packaging options and requirements for co-packaging and embedding of capacitors in power converters and power delivery networks
• How to understand MLCC and other capacitor options for building very dense power circuits

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Author & Publication:

Ron Demcko, KYOCERA AVX, Fountain Inn, S.C., How2Power Today, May 15 2025

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