Reliability evaluation and failure analysis for high voltage ceramic capacitor

This paper presents a result of failure analysis and reliability evaluation for high voltage ceramic capacitors. The failure modes and failure mechanisms were studied in two ways in order to estimate component life and failure rate. The causes of failure mechanisms for zero resistance phenomena under withstanding voltage test in high voltage ceramic capacitors molded by epoxy resin were studied by establishing an effective root cause failure analysis. Particular emphasis was placed on breakdown phenomena at the ceramic-epoxy interface. The validity of the results in this study was confirmed by the results of accelerated testing. Thermal cycling test for high voltage ceramic capacitor mounted on a magnetron were implemented. Delamination between ceramic and epoxy, which might cause electrical short in underlying circuitry, can occur during curing or thermal cycle. The results can be conveniently used to quickly identify defective lots, determine B₁₀ life estimation for each lot at the level of inspection, and detect major changes in the vendors processes. Also, the condition for dielectric breakdown was investigated for the estimation of failure rate with load-strength interference model