This article is based on a 2-minute-41-second video from Murata, introducing the complete manufacturing process of Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC).
This article is based on a 2-minute-41-second video from Murata, introducing the complete manufacturing process of Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC).
To make the process clearer, we elaborate and break down the manufacturing flow as follows:
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Ingredient Mixing & Slurry Preparation
Ceramic powder, binder, solvent and other raw materials are mixed in a certain proportion and ball-milled for a specified duration to form uniform ceramic slurry.
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Tape Casting
The ceramic slurry is poured through the nozzle of a tape casting machine and coated onto a moving PET film to form a thin, uniform slurry layer. The layer passes through a hot-air zone to volatilize most of the solvent in the slurry, and a ceramic green sheet is obtained after drying. The thickness of the sheet is generally between 10μm and 30μm.
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Screen Printing
Internal electrode slurry is printed onto the ceramic green sheets through a screen stencil per process specifications.
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Stacking
Ceramic green sheets printed with internal electrodes are stacked and pressed according to the designed offset requirements to form the MLCC bar block.
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Cover Sheet Making
Upper and lower protective sheets for the capacitor are fabricated. Ceramic protective sheets are added to the bottom and top surfaces during stacking to enhance mechanical strength and insulation performance.
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Lamination
The stacked bar block is placed in a lamination bag, vacuum-sealed, and pressed via isostatic pressing to make the interlayer bonding within the bar block tighter and denser.
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Cutting
The laminated bar block is cut into individual capacitor green chips.
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Debinding
The capacitor green chips are placed on a firing tray and baked at high temperature following a specified temperature profile (peak temperature generally around 400℃) to remove binders and other organic substances in the chips.
Functions of debinding:
- Remove organic binders to avoid delamination and cracking of the product caused by rapid volatilization of organics during sintering, ensuring intact ceramic bodies with the required shape.
- Eliminate the reduction effect of binders during sintering.
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Sintering
The debinded chips undergo high-temperature treatment at 1140℃~1340℃, a process that transforms the chips into ceramic bodies with high mechanical strength and excellent electrical properties.
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Chamfering
Sintered ceramic capacitors are loaded into a chamfering tank with water and grinding media, and processed via ball milling, planetary milling or other methods to obtain a smooth surface, ensure full exposure of internal electrodes, and guarantee reliable connection between internal and external electrodes.
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Termination
Terminal paste is applied to both ends of the chamfered chips where the internal electrodes are exposed, connecting the internal electrodes on the same side to form external electrodes.
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End Firing
The terminated products are sintered at low temperature to ensure the connection between internal and external electrodes, and achieve sufficient bonding strength between the terminal and the ceramic body.
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Terminal Finishing
Surface finishing is an electrodeposition process in which metal ions (or complex ions) in the electrolyte are reduced to metal (or alloy) on the cathode surface under direct current. For capacitors, a nickel layer is generally plated on the terminal (Ag terminal or Cu terminal), followed by a tin layer.
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Visual Inspection
Products with surface defects are sorted out with the aid of a magnifying glass or microscope.
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Electrical Testing
100% measurement and grading of electrical performance parameters including capacitance, dissipation factor, insulation resistance, and voltage withstand are performed to reject defective products.
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Taping
Capacitors are packaged in paper tapes or plastic bags according to size and quantity requirements.
The capacitors are then mounted and soldered to PCBs via SMT assembly...
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