Soft-termination MLCCs withstand flex cracking

The soft-termination technology already proven in automotive grade components of the CGA series is now available for general-purpose applications as well. Mass production will start in July 2014.

The MLCCs are suitable for applications such as electronic circuits, whose PCBs require handling after MLCCs have been soldered, including smartphones, PCs, TVs, power supplies, game consoles, car multimedia equipment and base stations.

PCBs are exposed to mechanical bending stress during a number of handling processes such as board splitting, insertion of sockets and leaded components, and screw-down, which take place after the MLCCs are mounted on the board. These mechanical stresses can cause flex cracking in the MLCCs. In order to effectively absorb these board stresses, TDK has designed the new types with an elastic conductive resin electrode material and advanced electrode forming technology. The result is a soft termination that is able to withstand a board deflection of up to 5mm (over a length of 90mm) - making the joint 2.5 times stronger than that of standard MLCCs - and all but eliminates the risk of flex cracking.

The series of commercial grade soft-termination MLCCs extends TDK’s portfolio of components with outstanding joint reliability. Together with the MEGACAP Type series of capacitors with metal lead frames, TDK offers a broad range of MLCCs that are able to withstand severe environmental conditions.