Abstract:

A new failure mechanism has been discovered for today's latest high volumetric efficiency multilayer chip capacitors. Over the past couple of years, the drive for lower costs has been promoted by the replacement of silver palladium electrodes by nickel. Diligent qualification procedures predicted very long life. However, experience has uncovered an Achilles heel. The capacitors fail when exposed to high (> 85%) humidity un-powered for extended periods.

This paper provides an overview of salient details of the construction of ceramic multilayer capacitors. Reviewing the literature and intuiting the possible bad actors form candidate hypotheses. An experimental and analytical procedure for quantifying the merit of each hypothesis is proposed.

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