1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC), and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing an (e.g., coaxial) MLCC.
2. Background
The growing number of applications for MLCCs is increasing the demand for MLCCs. An MLCC includes multiple interlaced (e.g., alternately layered) dielectric layers and conductive layers. The interlaced dielectric layers and conductive layers may be formed by ceramic plates having a conductive material disposed thereon to form the conductive layers and the electrodes of the capacitor. The MLCC may include a stack of multiple ceramic plates. The layered configuration may substantially increase the area of the dielectric layer being disposed between the conductive layers within a fixed footprint. Due to the layered configuration, an MLCC may provide high capacitance in a relatively small package. Moreover, MLCCs may be mounted on a circuit board with less complexity than other types of chip-carrier packages. Accordingly, MLCCs are widely used as components of mobile communications equipments, such as cell phones.
Aspects of a method of manufacturing a capacitor are provided. The method includes layering a plurality of dielectric plates. The plurality of dielectric plates includes a first dielectric plate having a first conductive region and a second conductive region on a surface of the first dielectric plate. The method further includes forming an inner electrode through an axis of the layered plurality of dielectric plates. The inner electrode electrically couples to the first conductive region on the surface of the first dielectric plate. The method further includes forming an outer electrode. The outer electrode electrically couples to the second conductive region on the surface of the first dielectric plate.
It is understood that other aspects of apparatus and methods will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein various aspects of apparatus and methods are shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, these aspects may be implemented in other and different forms and its several details are capable of modification in various other respects. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
Various aspects of apparatus and methods will now be presented in the detailed description by way of example, and not by way of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present invention. Acronyms and other descriptive terminology may be used merely for convenience and clarity and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiment” of an apparatus or method does not require that all embodiments of the invention include the described components, structure, features, functionality, processes, advantages, benefits, or modes of operation.
The terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variant thereof, mean any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements, and can encompass the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are “connected” or “coupled” together. The coupling or connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. As used herein, two elements can be considered to be “connected” or “coupled” together by the use of one or more wires, cables and/or printed electrical connections, as well as by the use of electromagnetic energy, such as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency region, the microwave region and the optical (both visible and invisible) region, as several non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.
Any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first,” “second,” and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations are used herein as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element.
As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof
In one example, the inner electrode 110 serves as the anode, and the outer electrode 120 serves as the cathode of the MLCC 100. In one configuration, the top or bottom of the coaxial MLCC 100 or both may be a mounting surface. In such case, both electrodes on the same surface (top or bottom) are available for mounting, and therefore, the process of mounting the MLCC 100 onto a circuit board may be simplified. As one of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize, although the MLCC 100 is illustrated as a rectangular device, the MLCC 100 may be configured to have other shapes in other aspects. For example, the MLCC 100 may have a cylindrical shape. Moreover, although the outer electrode 120 is illustrated as covering all four sides of the MLCC 100, it should be understood that the electrode 120 may cover less than four sides of the MLCC 100 in other aspects. For example, the outer electrode 120 may cover only one, two, or three sides of the MLCC 100.
The MLCC 100 may be manufactured by interlacing (or alternately layering) a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of conductive layers. In one example, layers include dielectric plates, which may be ceramic plates (e.g., ceramic sheets). The conductive layer may be disposed on the ceramic plate in a predetermined pattern. In an aspect, the conductive layer may be conductive ink. The conductive layers may be electrically connected to function as the electrodes 110 and 120 of the MLCC 100. In one example, the ceramic plates are layered (e.g., disposed on top of each other in a stack configuration). The layering process may further include a laminating process, which involves the application of heat and/or pressure to the stack of layered ceramic plates.
These steps may be formed in accordance with the features illustrated in
In one example, the first dielectric plate 320 may be formed by applying a conductive material (e.g., conductive ink) onto the surface of a ceramic plate using a first stencil 310. The first stencil 310 includes a masking region 312 that blocks the application of the conductive material in a predetermined pattern, thereby forming the insulative region 326 and the conductive regions 322 and 324.
The MLCC 100 may further include at least one second dielectric plate 350 and at least one third dielectric plate 370. In one example, the at least one second dielectric plate 350 and at least one third dielectric plate 370 may be alternatively layered. For example, the interior layers (e.g., excluding the top layer and/or the bottom layer) of the MLCC 100 may include two or more of the second dielectric plates 350 and two or more of the third dielectric plates 370, such that the second dielectric plates 350 are interlaced with the third dielectric plates 370. In one example, the at least one second dielectric plate 350 and the at least one third dielectric plate 370 may be ceramic plates.
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Referring back to the flowchart 200 in
These steps may be formed in accordance with the features illustrated in
Referring back to the flowchart 200 in
These steps may be formed in accordance with the features illustrated in
Various advantages flow from the described exemplary embodiment. For example, the process of manufacturing the MLCC 100 is simplified according to the exemplary embodiment. The specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the method of operation described above is provided merely as an example. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the method of operation may be re-arranged, amended, and/or modified. The accompanying method claims include various limitations related to a method of operation, but the recited limitations are not meant to be limited in any way by the specific order or hierarchy unless expressly stated in the claims.
The various aspects of this disclosure are provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the present invention. Various modifications to exemplary embodiments presented throughout this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the concepts disclosed herein may be extended to other magnetic storage devices. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects of this disclosure, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. All structural and functional equivalents to the various components of the exemplary embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”