Material considerations for multilayer ceramic capacitors

The role of material properties in the fabrication of multilayer ceramic structures is examined with emphasis on the shrinkage behavior of both the ceramic and the metallurgy used in the fabrication of the multilayer ceramic capacitors. A typical ceramic material used is barium titanate, and the typical electrode used is made of palladium. Shrinkage behavior is key to the mechanical integrity of the multilayer ceramic capacitors. The author discusses the effect of physical parameters such as particle size, shape, and surface area, as well as the effect of processing parameters. Some methods of altering the shrinkage behavior are also described. It is shown that an important consideration in the case of palladium electrodes made of fine palladium powders is the oxidation of palladium in air and the accompanying volume change