
Capacitor discharge sintering (CDS) is an electric current assisted (ECAS) technique. The technique is based on storage of electrostatic energy in a high voltage bank, and discharge into the sintering apparatus at low voltage (<30 V) and high current through step-down on a pre-compacted compact which is kept under pressure. The sintering mould and are similar to those employed in field assisted sintering techniques (FAST. [pdf]

As electronic devices become smaller and lighter in weight, the component mounting density increases, with the result that heat dissipation performance decreases, causing the device temperature to rise easily. In particular, heat generation from the power output circuit elements greatly affects the temperature rise of devices.. . In order to measure the heat-generation characteristics of a capacitor, the capacitor temperature must be measured in the condition with heat. . Heat-generation characteristics data can be checked at the Murata website. Figure 5 shows the window of the "SimSurfing" design assistance tool provided by Murata Manufacturing. Characteristics can be displayed by selecting the. [pdf]
If the ESR and current are known, the power dissipation and thus, the heat generated in the capacitor can be calculated. From this, plus the thermal resistance of the ca-pacitor and its external connections to a heat sink, it be-comes possible to determine the temperature rise above ambient of the capacitor.
The temperature rise of the core is directly proportional to the core-to-ambient thermal re-sistance, and this paper models this thermal resistance for various capacitor construction techniques. Results are adapted for use in a new, lumped-parameter model suitable for use in a spreadsheet or a Java applet.
2. Heat-generation characteristics of capacitors In order to measure the heat-generation characteristics of a capacitor, the capacitor temperature must be measured in the condition with heat dissipation from the surface due to convection and radiation and heat dissipation due to heat transfer via the jig minimized.
Once the effective thermal resistance from the core to the ambient is known, the thermal time constant of the capacitor may be calculated by lumped-parameter analysis if the Biot number Bi is much less than unity : Bi ” hL / k « 1 . » 100 W/m·K , Bi < 0.2 and condition (42) is met for low and moderate air velocities and no heatsink.
A capacitor’s transient core temperature response to step increase or decrease in ambient temperature DT is determined, subject to (42), by appealing to a DC electrical circuit model analogy. The model is of a ca-pacitor transient voltage response to a DC voltage source being switched at t=0 to a series RC circuit. See Fig. 5. By inspection, 0 !
As previously stated, the allow-able power dissipation can be determined by the knowledge of the thermal resistance Θcap, the equivalent series resistance ESR of the capacitor, the maximum allowable internal temperature and the maximum temperature that solder or epoxy on the ter-mination can tolerate without destruction.

The classic capacitor failure mechanism is dielectric breakdown. The dielectric in the capacitor is subjected to the full potential to which the device is. . Open capacitors usually occur as a result of overstress in an application. For instance, operation of DC rated capacitors at high AC current levels. . The following list is a summary of the most common environmentally "critical factors" with respect to capacitors. The design engineer must take into consideration his own applications and the effects caused by combinations of various. [pdf]
This refers to the root cause (capacitor dielectric breakdown) that was successfully uncovered after the thorough review on the die circuit schematic, inspection of the capacitors connected to the EIPD sites, review of the fault isolation results and pursuing the further physical failure analysis.
Defects in circuit elements, such as capacitors, are as important as any other cause of device fallout. Historically, integrated capacitors have been a leading reason for early failure, so this work describes the detection, root cause analysis, and the mitigation of three types of capacitor defects.
Capacitor defects significantly contribute to infant and latent failures in integrated circuits. This paper will address methods of locating capacitor defects and root cause determi-nation. Keysight Technologies’ failure analysis team investigated tens of failures in an externally purchased voltage controlled oscillator (VCO).
In addition to these failures, capacitors may fail due to capacitance drift, instability with temperature, high dissipation factor or low insulation resistance. Failures can be the result of electrical, mechanical, or environmental overstress, "wear-out" due to dielectric degradation during operation, or manufacturing defects.
Electromigration is one of failure mechanisms of semiconductor, but the failure mode can appear as a short, open, or characteristic degradation. Capacitors have several failure modes, the degree of which depends on the type of capacitor (Table 1).
Capacitor failures can be described by two basic failure categories: catastrophic failures and degraded failures. Catastrophic failure is the complete loss of function of the capacitor in a circuit. Catastrophic failure, such as open or short circuit, is the complete loss of function of the capacitor.
We are deeply committed to excellence in all our endeavors.
Since we maintain control over our products, our customers can be assured of nothing but the best quality at all times.