A quick method to determine the capacitance characteristics of thin layer X5R multilayer capacitors

The effect of Y2O3 concentration on the dielectric properties of ceramic disc capacitors and multilayer capacitors containing 50 dielectric layers with an approximate thickness of 3 μm were investigated. The relative permittivity and temperature coefficient of capacity of multilayer capacitors at low and high applied field suggest that two types of microstructures formed, depending on yttrium doping concentration. Yttrium concentrations of 1.5–2.0 mol% yielded identical relative permittivities over a wide temperature range. The permittivities at Y concentrations of 2.6–3.0 mol% were also identical, but somewhat higher. The relative permittivity of ceramic disc capacitors of similar composition, determined from hysteresis loop measurements as function of applied field, was compared with field-dependent permittivity measurements on multilayer capacitors. The results indicate that polarization measurements on CDCs are a good indicator for the relative permittivity values of MLCCs.