Feature: Military
Drawing upon its focus on high-Q
and high-voltage MLCCs, Johanson, for example, has expanded its capacity to fi ll some of the supply void caused by the shiſt in market focus to smaller capacitors. “We’ve been investing in expanding our
Typical surface-mount capacitors
Multi-layer ceramic components MLCCs consist of laminated layers of specially-formulated ceramic dielectric materials interspersed with metal electrodes. This layered formation is then fired at high temperature to produce a sintered and volumetrically- efficient capacitor. A conductive termination barrier system is integrated on the exposed ends of the chip to complete the connection. Capacitance is primarily determined
by three factors: the dielectric constant (k) of the ceramic materials, the thickness of the dielectric layers, their overlap area, and the number of electrodes. A capacitor with a given dielectric constant can have more layers and wider spacing between electrodes, or fewer layers and closer spacing to achieve the same capacitance. Military consumers of MLCCs
depend on high-voltage and high-Q capacitors for power supplies, amplifiers, lasers and many other specialised applications. In circuits with higher currents, higher-Q MLCCs are preferred to reduce self-heating, where the Q factor represents the efficiency of a capacitor in terms of energy loss. High-Q capacitors lose less energy, reducing the need to dissipate the heat, which protects the board from damage and performance loss in sensitive and high-liability applications. Not all MLCCs are created equal,
however – even among the high- performance MLCCs; yet, ensuring a consistent level of performance is
www.electronicsworld.co.uk October 2021 25
capacity for several years now through a modernisation of our production facility and the opening of a second production line that will essentially double our MLCC output. We can take that even higher with more production shifts,” said Horton. Johanson is now quoting large-size,
high-voltage MLCC order fulfillment times of 10 weeks. “There’s just no reason to move away
Military radio application
critical for the high reliability required by military applications. “If a MLCC manufacturer is not
tightly controlling the layer count, it might be providing ten-layer parts in one batch and then later deliver 17-layer parts in a subsequent one,” explains Horton. “These two parts will not perform the same at high frequencies.”
US supply is ramping up Domestic sources of MLCCs needed in military applications have been ramping up their capacity. Increased MLCC supply means customers will not need to delay production of their products because of a capacitor shortage.
from ceramic for your high-voltage, high-quality applications,” said Horton. “There is now a growing domestic MLCC supply available to meet our domestic (US) needs.” Shifts in supply and demand within
the overall MLCC market, which is estimated to grow to $12bn by 2025, have caused critical supply shortages for military customers who require a higher-quality, larger-format multi-layer ceramic capacitor. As the largest MLCC manufacturers continue to compete for the sales of the MLCCs used by sectors like telecom, smartphones and mobile devices, new US supply sources are stepping in to meet the need for a reliable and timely supply of high-performance MLCCs, which will satisfy the military market.
Defence radar
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