Stability of Ni electrodes and Ni-BaTiO3 interface evolution in ultrathin BME MLCCs

Microstructural control in thin-layer multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) is one of the present day challenges for maintaining an increase in capacitive volumetric efficiency. It is observed that the continuity of the Ni electrodes increases with increasing heating rate but behaves non-linearly on sintering temperature. It is proposed that an interfacial liquid alloy layer initiates when the Ni electrodes are under tension. This accelerates a stress-induced diffusion which is the key cause of the severe electrode discontinuities during heating. Kinetic and thermodynamic approaches based on the control of sintering profiles or the control of Ni-BaTiO3 interface chemistry are proposed to prevent the Ni electrode discontinuity.